You’re a Hard Habit to Break

I bit my nails until I was in my mid 20s. That was a nasty habit that I finally beat, because in the real world, nobody wants to walk around with bleeding cuticles, especially while conducting a business meeting. I started going to Elizabeth Arden for $25 manicures and BOOM! My habit was broken and I never looked back.

Most of us have what we would consider to be bad habits. Whether it’s drinking too much coffee, an addiction to reality television, or an unhealthy obsession with Lindsay Lohan (poor dear), a lot of people are walking around in varying states of self loathing about something they wish they could change about themselves.

But here’s the thing...You can’t break a bad habit until you have a very serious will to change. Let’s be honest here. There are a millions of people who CLAIM to be unhappy about their daily trips to the coffee shop, but COME ON! There is a Starbucks on every corner for a REASON. People have no intention of curbing their coffee consumption.

When it comes to work, my bad habit is getting distracted. I am pathological about letting interruptions get in the way of what I need to do in order to be productive while I am working.

So my remedy is this: The day prior, I make a list of the most important things I need to do each day. That way, tomorrow when I sit down at my desk, my day is already planned for me and I under no circumstances allow anything to distract me until the first two items are completed. This means no email, no Facebook, no radio and no television. I get the work done first, and then I can MAYBE allow myself a few moments on the time suck that is social media.