Want to build better work habits? Most people do, especially
since studies have shown over 40% of the "decisions" we make
every day aren't really decisions — they're habits.
That means we tend to simply do what we've done before...
which makes us less productive, less effective, less healthy and
fit — less everything — than we could be.
The solution? Build new, positive habits.
Here are four easy ways — backed by research — to build new
habits from Belle Beth Cooper , the co-founder of Exist , a cool
app that connects all your services to turn that data into
insights about your life. (Think quantified self on steroids.)

1. Start small
BJ Fogg is the king of starting small with new habits and his
program, Tiny Habits , focuses on this approach. The idea is to
focus on building the habit itself, rather than worrying about
how big the impact is.
Here's a good example: say you want to start a habit of flossing
your teeth every night. To build a successful habit, start with
something tiny: flossing just one tooth . I know it sounds crazy,
but it works. If you're building the habit of flossing just a
single tooth each night, three things will happen:

1. You'll feel silly about not doing it. Flossing a single tooth is so
easy it's hard to feel okay about skipping it.
2. You'll probably floss more than one tooth. Getting started on
anything is the biggest hurdle. Once we've started, it's easy
to just keep going.
3. You'll build the habit. Although flossing just one tooth each
night probably won't make your dentist happy, after a few
weeks have passed the action will start to become a habit —
something you do automatically, without thinking.
Once you've built up the habit then you can incrementally add
to it. In our example, you'd start flossing two teeth per night,
and then three, and soon you'll be flossing all of your teeth
without having to think about it.
Now let's look at some examples of how you could apply this
method to building healthy work habits.
Single task . If you're struggling to stay focused and beat
distractions, focus on building the habit of working on a
single task at a time. Start by doing that for five minutes at
a time. After five minutes, relax and allow distractions.
Later try another five minutes of pure focus. When five
minutes becomes easy, work on doing 10 minutes at a time,
and then 15.

Soon you'll find you can spend half an hour on a task without
struggling to stay focused.
Drink more water . What if you wanted to drink more water
during your workday? Start small with just one extra glass
of water. You can even make it a really small glass. Just
drink one extra glass a day for a month.
Get organized by frequently updating your calendar.
If you're still struggling after a month, keep practicing (and
check the other strategies I've mentioned here for more help.)
Once you have the habit down you can upgrade to a larger
glass and later add a second one.
Get organized . Trying to be more organized and stay on top
of your calendar? Start with a weekly reminder to look over
your calendar for the coming week.
Each Sunday night when your reminder sounds, take a minute
to look the events you have scheduled for the week. When you
find that's easy and can do it without thinking, try setting an
alarm every night to review the next day's calendar.

2. Stack habits
One of the most powerful methods for building new habits is
to stack them on existing habits.
We all have plenty of existing habits: getting your morning
coffee, logging on to your computer, walking to the train
station after work, eating a mid-morning snack... you do those
things without thinking about them. They're habits.
So use those habits as triggers for new habits. Here are some
examples.
Increase exercise . To exercise more, stack a new habit on
your morning coffee. Every time you get your coffee, take a
walk around the block. Or start getting your morning coffee
at a cafe a little further from work so you naturally have a
longer walk.
Strengthen work relationships . To get to know your colleagues
better, stack a new habit on your mid-morning snack or
bathroom breaks. Every time you get your snack, stop for
five minutes to chat to people in the break room. Or when
you go for a bathroom break stop and say chat with
someone on the way back to your work area.
Read more . To read more, stack a new habit on your
commute. Grab an audio book or download Umano you can
listen to. Or every day when you have lunch — which is
surely an existing habit — take a book with you.
There are plenty of ways to stack habits together. Start with
something you do every day and use that as a trigger to remind
you to do your new habit.
Just pick a habit so small and easy that it's not difficult to
perform, and attach it to a trigger that happens every day
around the same time — that's an awesome way to build new
work habits.
Encourage yourself to drink less soda by keeping water within
reach.

3. Make it obvious
Another of my favorite tricks to building habits is to put the
tools you need right in front of you. Having whatever
equipment you need easily available removes the barrier of
getting started and acts as a reminder.
Drink less soda . Say you want to drink less soda and more
water while you're at work. Keeping a water bottle on your
desk means you don't have to get up; you can just reach out
and take a sip while you're working. Plus seeing the water
bottle all day serves as a reminder to keep up your habit.
Exercise at lunch. If you want to go for a jog or hit the gym
during your lunch break, put your equipment in easy
reach. Set your running shoes or gym bag beside your desk
so you can quickly grab them as you head out the door at
lunchtime.
Leave work on time . When your habit isn't based on
something physical, you can still use this technique. The
trick is to make any barriers to acting on your habit easy to
overcome. Say you're trying to build a habit of leaving
work on time every day. If you make plans with your
family or friends after work each night you'll have a good
excuse that pulls you away from your desk. Your plans don't
have to be complicated; they could be as simple as setting a
specific time your family has dinner every night. Take it a
step farther and make it an appointment in your calendar.

4. Reward yourself
Now for the fun part: every time you perform your new habit,
celebrate it. Reward yourself for putting in the effort.
Charles Duhigg, author of " The Power of Habit ," is a big
proponent of rewarding yourself after completing a habit.
Duhigg's approach to habits is based around a simple three-
part cycle: the cue or trigger, the habit itself, and then the
reward.
After building up enough of these, Duhigg says, "When your
brain is exposed to a certain cue, it'll kind of go on autopilot
because it craves the reward it expects to come at the end."
Building up habits over time means focusing on doing
something small every day (or very often, if not every day).
Celebrating each time you complete a habit reinforces the value
of doing that small thing over and over, rather than reaching
for a far-off goal .
If you're trying to lose weight, weighing yourself every day can
be de-motivating if you don't see much progress. Rewarding
yourself every time you go to the gym, on the other hand, helps
you to build up a lasting habit of regular exercise — regardless
of the long-term consequences.
Rewards can come in any form makes you feel good about
sticking with your habit. It might be stopping for a break,
having a snack, or simply patting yourself on the back.
A good way to make sure you're staying on track and
rewarding yourself for your progress is to use an app like Lift
or Balanced to check off your habit each time you perform it.
If you struggle to stay on track or you need a bigger reward to
stay motivated, try grabbing an accountability partner. Find a
colleague or friend who will keep you accountable and cheer
you on when you succeed. (I always tell my co-founder when I
go for a run and his support makes me feel even better about
sticking with my habit.)
Most importantly, just pick one habit to build up at a time . It's
really easy to get overwhelmed by trying to make several
changes at once. Plus, once you've successfully built one new
habit, you have another starting point for stacking on a new
habit!

tank u

This is good.