How Locked Are Your Habits
Falling into routines can happen easily unless we take conscious efforts to analyse our actions to evaluate why we do the things we do, and if the things we do are valuable or needs to be changed.
They say humans are creatures of habit, however, I think that different personality types might be more prone to habits. Based on my psychological readings, my personality trait is regarded as that of an upholder, which makes me form habits easily. I set personal rules that I abide by, and I am also mindful and abiding by rules set by others.
Therefore, my habits tend to be deliberate in my personal life, with justifiable reasons as to why I do the things that I do, both good and bad.
Regardless of how many routine tasks I have on my agenda, I'm constantly analysing and prioritising my list of tasks. I always shuffle the order of my tasks if there is any external factor that might be restricting me from accomplishing an immediate task.
Yes, there are different kinds of habits that carry different consequences.
I would not class my bad sleeping habits as trivial, because I am one of those individuals who need proper sleep to function at an optimal. However, I think what kept me going for so long was the fact that I didn't stress over my bad habit; simply because I am aware of my innate ability to drop bad habits and change according to my goals and the rationality of my circumstances.
I consciously did what I thought was essential at the time, and decided I'd cross that bridge and make the necessary change at the right time.
Was it the smartest of decisions?
Probably not, but here I am.
I do take into consideration the temporary change from slow-living on the canals. The natural environment and closeness to wildlife were conducive to my sleeping habit. I felt like I was at one with nature.
However, I'm temporarily landlocked, and although I maintained that habit for several months, I have successfully dropped that bad habit overnight, and I've been adjusting better than I thought I would.
I'm happy to say that my circadian rhythm is supposedly balanced. So after several months of sleeping between 3 AM and 5 AM, and waking up between 9:30 - 10 AM, I've gone back to a routine of sleeping between the hours of 10 - 11 PM, and presently, my body shuts down if I am not tucked into bed by then.
I also find myself waking up at 6 AM naturally. Some days I feel rested, and on other days like today it's as if a truck ran over me, yet I'm still firing on all cylinders.
How locked are your habits? Do you struggle to change your bad habits?
One main challenge is that I'm struggling to write my blogs during the daytime.
Does anyone have that problem?
This is nothing new to me though.
The glare in the daylight has always affected my ability to focus because it makes me want to be outdoor doing activities.
To improve this, I do extensive meditative work for my attention deficient challenges, which works well.
I would say that I have many locks, but my mindset, my sense of accountability and responsibility, and my inner drive to succeed make me regard my own will as my master key to unlocking all my bad habits.
I was content and optimistic about my old bad habit, but I am feeling better within myself with my new sleeping habits. Still, I need to work on structuring my daily agendas, and also make little tweaks to improve my attention and focus, such as getting a good headset and listening to calming and concentrating music while working.
I'd like to hear your thoughts and if you have similar challenges, what are some of your coping mechanisms?
All photos are mine. Taken in Leamington Spa, UK
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It's not so easy for me to change habits. I usually find myself taking things one at a time. I've learned to not put too much pressure on myself.
I now write my blogs immediately after I wake up, but I tend to publish them later in the day. I also have bad sleeping habits as I don't sleep when everyone sleeps. I stay awake for most of the night.
I'm just like you, trying to figure it all out. There are many things I need to change, I'm in no rush. One step at a time.
Very nice post!
Hello @samostically
I think you are right in taking things one step at a time since you have difficulty changing habits... My ability to switch immediately might be uncommon 🤣
Maybe the biggest struggle was that I do love early mornings and it was tempting to watch the sunrise but forced myself to sleep.
I like your idea of writing your blog first thing in the morning. Who knows, maybe I'll adopt that routine.
Thanks for stopping by with your lovely comment:)))
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Most times we tend to give people this response, "let me be that who I am". Even when the things you are asking people to let you it's a smelling habit that needs to be changed or worked on.
This sleeping habit is something that needs to be reviewed by me. I see that most times when I get up from bed early my day looks better than when I step out late.
Thank you for this great post, it's a practical thing.
Yes, sleep is not overrated at all. It's important for optimal health.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment:)))
Not overrated but can be much a times though....hahahah
There she goes......
I give up
people do say if you do one particular things consecutively, it becomes an habit which is true at some point but most times maintaining an habit is somehow hard..... I do find it hard to write at night, day time is quite cool
I know it's different for everyone. Some people could sit in a coffee shop and write a blog. That would be an impossible task for me 🤣
I need utter silence, hence the trend of the wee morning hours. Still, I love challenges, so i will work to conquer this focus-challenge, and who knows, maybe I'll find myself working well in a coffee shop or anytime of the day 🤞
the coffee shop really work magic or just a quiet place where you can view nature, ideas will be flowing in.
Yeah, I agree about nature :)
It’s great that your body can easily adjust to different schedules. You have a good balance and you’re intentional about the things you do. I like that.
I’m usually an early sleeper. I’m not the friend one should expect to stay up late at night with to binge on movies. Nope, I’ll sleep through the action. I however fell into a bad habit of going to bed late due to late work schedules and trying to balance many other stuff I was involved in. I did that habitually and would still rise early. The summary of that story is that my body eventually crashed. I then I struggled to sleep in general. Had to stop, do a total restructure of my activities and for a while my body clock was just out of rhythm. Now I’m more intentional about what I do and the time I do them. Lol! Like you, my body starts shutting down around 10 p.m. and I consistently wake at a particular time. It feels good especially now that I know what it feels like to be “without lock”.
I rather keeping it locked. Lol
I get where you're coming from. I was surprised at my ability to stay up, and I got addicted and loved the lonely hours. Being in the countryside on the water is magical at night. The beautiful sounds of nature I think I got addicted to and was always mesmerized by it.
The first two nights two of change were the easiest. I fell asleep right away. Now I am pushing it till 11:30 PM, but I feel that I'm pushing it. I think I changed the habit just at the right time.
Maybe in a few months, I will go back to sleeping at 9:16 or 10:25 PM and waking up at 05:30 AM for yoga. That's when I know my internal clock is completely balanced.
For the past months, I kept smiling to myself because I was like a different person. Normally if I don't get good sleep I would become "murderous" but this time I was pretty
normalcivil. 🤣I hope you'll continue to find balance with work, family, and personal life:)))
I wasn’t blessed with the ability to stay up. Lol! Well…during university days I’d stay up with friends to play scrabble. Couldn’t stay up to study but somehow scrabble got me. 🤣🤣
I can imagine the beauty of the sounds by the waters by the country side and can more than imagine the spectacular views as you gave us glimpses of them.
Wow, your first 2 nights of change were easiest. It’s usually the opposite for many people. Lol!
“Murderous” really made me Lol!😂🤣😆
I get it. At those times, no one should dare “to rock your boat”. Lol!
Aiming for more balance. It’s important. Thanks. 😃Have a great day/evening.
My problem is not about the time of day I struggle to write, it’s that I’ve struggled to write at ALL TIMES over the past 2 days. I haven’t felt inspired to write until today. I have so many posts unfinished in my drafts because I kind of just have a writer’s block when I start writing the past 2 days.
I think you get there eventually. Sometimes when that happens, you might suddenly get the motivation and approach your blog from a different angle.
It might also be better to do it the way you do, with pride... Inside of being in a hurry without care.
Thanks for stopping by:)))
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My sleep routine has been quite messed up for quite a while now, thanks to Covid and the lockdowns.
Before I never faced much of a problem when it came to sleep, but for the past two years, getting a proper and efficient amount of sleep has become quite a difficult "task" for some reason.
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. It has been quite the opposite for me since Covid (just coincidence I believe). I went on natural melatonin for a while and stopped abruptly since people reported dependency if used for a prolonged time.
I fell into a good sleeping pattern after that...Until the last few months.
I do hope that your sleeping will improve. Best not to stress over it though. I'd suggest trying some deep breathing exercises right when you go to bed, that works wonders normally.
Best wishes!
I've heard the same from many other people, that is why I try my best to avoid any sort of meds.
Hopefully your new sleeping habit and structure works out well. ♥️
I'll surely give it a try, thank you so much for the suggestion.
Cheers 🥃
I've never heard of that trait. I learned something new. Interesting 👍
Struggling to write during the day is supposedly common among a lot of people. Many people say that they are more creative at night or find it easier to complete writing assignments. There is something about your brain being slightly tired at the end of the day that helps keep it on track and and focused on one task as if it is too tired to focus on many different things at once that might distract a person like it tends to do when it is more alert diring the day.
Its not a rule or anything and everyone is different of course, but I do recall reading something like that at one point.
Ah, I didn't know that about the brain at all. It sounds accurate to me though.
Trying to sit still in the daytime and focus has me reminiscing on my primary school days...I could not sit in classes for long periods. I had to pop out of classes regularly, run around the playground by myself and then pop back to the class, and repeat every few minutes.
I guess it's a form of ADHA? My teachers only thought that I was "tormented" and reported to my parents that I was hyperactive... and that behaviour carried over to mischief and disruptive behaviour in my teenage years... and I've never had a "sit in an office all day" job... cause honestly I would scream or pull out all my hair... or strip naked...no joke!!
I never realised that I still have this problem because I'm most time active... I guess I'll have to do some self-work on this 🙃
... Yes there are 4 personality types: I fell under rebel (by nature) and questioner, when I was younger, but since early adulthood, I switched and became the upholder type... never was an obliger though!!!
Getting out of the comfort zone is one of the keys to changing habits because if we are used to activities in the comfort zone, it is difficult for us to develop. @millycf1976
That's a good take on it!
Thanks for stopping by:)
It is fortuitous that I stumble across this post today, when I am responding to comments and reading posts in the daytime, instead of in the small hours of darkness.
This is very unusual for me but part of a conscious decision to deal with my sleep pattern and prioritise my quality of sleep. It will never be a perfectly balanced pattern as I work 12 hour days for 2 days then 12 hour nights for 2 days, however, doing what I can will benefit me massively I'm certain.
Good for you for taking your situation in hand and moulding it to what you determine it should be. Your psychological reading is far from surprising , you always appear to have such a steely resolve and action based approach to the things you decide will change.
I remain inspired by your ability to take your physical health in hand when you deemed change essential and just 'rocking it', until getting where you wanted to be. If I could wish one thing for humanity, it would be for this ability to become innate in all of us, imagine what an empowered world like that could be?
I have been consuming an enormous amount of content regarding peak performance, longevity, extreme health and goals and even 'brain rewiring' in an attempt to further enhance my rapidly improving health and enjoyment of life. At the end of each podcast, interview or video the one thing most people answer as the single thing that will have massive impact in their life is quality of sleep.
If it is so highly regarded by some of those at the top of their field and at the cutting edge of neuroscience and physiological improvement, who am I to consider it trivial?
One of the podcasts I listened to most recently cited living in nature as the biggest single thing he has done for his family, it seems you are certainly on to something, hopefully your landlocked state is one that will improve massively going forward.
Have a stunning end to the week and an even better, fabulously rested, weekend to follow. 😎
Hello there 😁
Thanks for your LOVELY comment. I appreciate it:)))
... and YES! Proper sleep is essential, as also proper breathing. Two powerful things that no one can do for us.
I wish you well with continuing to cope with your shift patterns and much improvement in your health and well-being.
It's always nice of you to stop by:))))
All good wishes to you 🙏
OMG YESSS... it sounds like the most ridiculous change for one to make in the search for an ever improving life but I had zero idea how much nose breathing versus mouth breathing contributed to development of many types of illness and allergy! The nose pressurises the air and removes many pollutants that the mouth would send straight in to the system.
I have instructed my partner and a particularly lovely girl at work on a technique to dispel anxiety immediately as it manifests. It's so simple, when slowly inhaling and the nose breath is almost complete, a sharp second intake, repeated 3 times activates a separate area of the brain and kablamo (dunno why I said that???) it is impossible to hold the negative thought/feeling in the mind.
Meditation and breathing is something I am actively working on and love the way it is making me feel, sometimes simple things are incredibly effective. so effective in fact that we almost dismiss them for their apparent simplicity. 🤔
I'm happy to hear that.
My breathing was so shallow, that doctors always had difficulty listening to my breath. When I started attending yoga classes, my teacher observed that she was not seeing any movement with my breath. When I started doing QiGong, I discovered the real importance of deep diaphragm breathing.
I've never looked at the term "breath of life" the same.
I practice "breathing into a square" and focusing on my breath for my sleeping problems, and it works like magic.
💯%
I no longer have panick or anxiety attacks 😊
I hope I could change my circadian rhythm too. I wanna sleep earlier like 9 or 10 since I need to wake up as early as 6am.. But it's difficult for me to sleep early.. Probably because I am writing blogs at night too since I am busy at day.. ..
Yes, I totally understand, and sometimes there is no way around it. Try not to worry too much about it because sometimes worry will lead to stress which is what your body does not need on top of everything else.
I hope things will get better though:)
Thanks. Maybe it's all in my mind and my body corresponds to it.
probably i am slave of my habits. and my sleeping hours always 'movable' ... not that it is a good thing, as i feel it :/
Hey Qwerrie,
Hmm, that's another kind of sleeping habit indeed. It's not so bad really, but I can see why you feel it.
I guess our bodies change? For example: I used to be so good in the heat, and could do excessive physical and strenuous activities in the sun when I lived in Jamaica. Now, that's a completely different scenario. Plus age I think. 🤔
Darn, i missed your post, and gotta get back to tour comment on mine. Balanced circadian is good, i just love that word. It jives with my weird sleep fascination. Im locked into quite a routine too, but breaking from the mold to smell some different roses would be good for me. Cheers to good routine and some good variety. Light at the end of the tunnel keeps me going. The light being more time to chill.
!LUV
Thanks for your lovely comment. Made me smile 😊🤗
I feel the LUV!:)