Stupid Habits Are Made to be Broken

May 24, 2008 by Keli.

Every other month or so, I pick a messy kitchen drawer and clean it out. Okay, maybe it’s every six months to a year or when it becomes so crammed that letters and extra wall calendars start sneaking out the back end and relocating into lower level drawers that offer more breathing space.

Don’t get me wrong. These are not cutlery drawers or those housing kitchen towels or spices. These are the ones specifically set aside for loose AA batteries, notes to myself covering all subjects from reminding Son to return a library book to writing down snippets of great lines I’ve snatched from eighties’ sitcoms, as well as renegade paper clips, rubber bands and anything else without a proper resting place. I believe these items may be of future use, however indeterminate. I shove them in the drawer so I can think about them later.

Why am I sharing this with you? To embarrass myself into stopping this stupid little habit of cramming nonsensical items into drawers that otherwise could appear tidy.

I am also partial to clutter. However, I pile my clutter knee-high, hoping these little towers of chaos will give off the impression of neat, carefully planned disorder.

I believe that these commonplace habits are not exclusive to stupers (short once again, for unavoidably stupid persons). And that they can easily be broken, provided there’s a willing participant.

Ways to break unruly habits:

1. Acknowledge the habit, realizing that if it didn’t exist, you’d be one step closer to taking control over your life;
2. Convince yourself that change is good. Ask: after the clutter is gone, will I honestly miss it? Or will I appreciate the fact that spiders and earwigs no longer have a multitude of hiding places inside my home?
3. Visualize what your life would be like without the habit. For instance, I could open a drawer and actually find a pen when I needed to write down a phone number instead of frantically dashing about searching for a long lost writing utensil. And when guests come over and open a drawer in hopes of finding a notepad, they actually will. They shouldn’t fear misplacing a hand when searching;
4. Join a support group or elicit the support of loved ones. Surround yourself by others who’ve successfully broken habits; and
5. Pay attention. Know your triggers. Most of our habits come about when we’re not thinking clearly. I reach out to chocolate chip walnut cookies when my mind is cloudy with stress or otherwise preoccupied. And I don’t mean one or two morsels. A muddled mind also triggers my robotic penchant for picking up unharnessed objects and dropping them in random drawers.

Thinking is something we all have at our disposal. Use it or lose it.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Keli

Keli@counterfeithumans.com

Posted in My very own stupidity | 5 Comments »