Published on August 27th, 2020 | by Bibhuranjan

How To Ditch Bad Habits For Better Daily Results

We all have bad habits. It’s human nature. But when those habits begin to disrupt your life and impact your physical and mental health, it’s time to do something about them.

Bad habits are generally started for two reasons: we’re either bored or stressed. But once we get used to having these habits in our life, it can be hard to stop.

If you’re having a bad day, it’s time to look deeper at your bad habits to see how they could be impacting you. The following are simple solutions to ditch those bad habits to have a better day!

Do It For Your Health

Start by getting enough sleep. Staying up too late, playing games, watching TV, is a habit you can break right away. It’s recommended you have at least 7-9 hours’ sleep each night. If you’re aren’t sleeping enough, you could experience feelings of depression, have problems with your memory, experience weight gain, have a lower sex drive, increased wrinkles and a weakened immune system. If you have trouble getting to sleep, have a warm cup of non-caffeine tea before bed.

Eat healthy. One of the worst habits people have is not eating right. While it’s okay to eat sweets and chocolates in moderation, if you find you’re gorging yourself on sugar too often, it will actually have the opposite effect than the one you seek. And in fact, you’re likely to feel much worse after a bar of chocolate than you would if you swapped it for a punnet of juicy strawberries. You want to be following a balanced diet that gives you energy and helps your brain to focus. This includes fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat proteins that are rich in B vitamins. It’s these vitamins that regulate melatonin, which helps you to sleep better at night.

Get more exercise. Do you prefer to couch surf than to hit the beach? Lack of exercise is potentially impacting your motivation. You should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day if you simply want to maintain your current levels of health and energy. If you want to lose weight or hit fitness goals, though, you’ll need to step it up. Moderate activity includes brisk walking, cycling at slow speeds, swimming and dancing. You should also try to include 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, which includes aerobics or gym classes, competitive sports, and anything that makes you catch your breath.

Stop smoking and drink less alcohol. If you haven’t already changed these bad habits, it’s really just common sense. Smoking cigarettes means you’re breathing in 7,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful. If you’re not ready to give up altogether, try vaping instead. And when it comes to alcohol, a few rum and cokes after work each day might taste good at the time, but it’s not doing your health any good. If you do enjoy a drink to help you wind down at the end of the day, swap the rum for a glass of red wine. One glass a day of red is actually good for you – it’s full of antioxidants that can help protect against heart disease and inflammation, among other things.

Give Your Mind A Break

Mobile technology makes it hard for us to switch off these days, but if you want to have a better day, your phone or tablet could be presenting bad habits you need to break.

Stop checking messages. According to research by Deloitte, Australians check their mobile phone for messages every 30 minutes. We check our phones as soon as we wake up, throughout the day, and again right before we go to sleep. 1 in 10 Australians have even admitted to using their phone while being intimate with their partner! In fact, we check our phones so much that we lose 38 days a year on technology. Rather than checking every 30 minutes, why not allocate 30 minutes every few hours where you can check and respond to any messages.

Turn off notifications. The best way to stop checking your phone is to put it in another room and turn off the notifications. If you can’t hear the phone making a beep every time someone messages or emails, you’re less likely to think about it. In turn, you’ll be much more productive with work as there are fewer distractions.

No phones at bedtime. While many of us use our phones at bedtime as a way to calm down and relax, this habit is actually doing more harm than good. Technology keeps our minds active and informed, but at sleep time, the last thing we want is stimulation. Not only that, but the blue light is bad for your vision, and it’s also been found to suppress melatonin – the hormone responsible for sleep. Stop using your phone at least an hour before you plan to hit the sack. That YouTube video or response to someone’s Facebook post can wait til morning!

How To Ditch Those Bad Habits

Replace it: You don’t necessarily have to eliminate a bad habit completely, but you can replace it with a better option. For example, we’re not telling you to stay away from your 3pm sweet-treat slump, but rather replace those chocolates for a sweet piece of fresh fruit. If your bad habit is a way that helps you cope with stress, such as biting your nails, find a way to replace that with a healthier behaviour. Close your eyes and take some deep breaths instead.

Remove the triggers: If you have a fridge full of chocolates and very little fruit, it’s a given that you’re going to go straight for the chocolates. Ditch them in the bin, and the temptation is gone. Can’t stop looking at your phone at bedtime? As we mentioned earlier, move it to another room once you hit the pillow for the night, so the temptation isn’t there. The old adage, “out of sight, out of mind” comes in particularly useful when it comes to eliminating bad habits.

Make new friends: If your current friend’s group all smoke cigarettes and you want to switch to vaping, why not start up some conversations with other vapers so you can stay away from the cigarette smoke? If you want to exercise more, get yourself a gym or walking buddy to keep motivated. You want to have people around you who support your decisions.

Final Thoughts

If you want to increase your productivity and have a generally happier outset each day, eliminating or replacing bad habits is the best place to start. Take better care of yourself and you’ll be able to manage work, family and life much more efficiently.

Tags: health, lifestyle, vape

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.