The Power of Habit Book Review
Understanding the reasons for our habits and how to change them.
The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg explores how habits work and how they reside in our brains. Charles looks at how habits are developed within individuals, organisations and society.
A habit is made up of:
Cue (what triggers the craving within the brain)
Routine (can be either a physical, mental or emotional)
Reward (the sensation you crave)
For those habits that we want to change or consider bad, all that needs to be adjusted is the routine and to keep both the cue and reward.
The first step in identifying a habit that you want to change is to identify what is the trigger for this craving and how the cue comes about. The trigger could be stress, boredom, hunger or seeking a distraction from doing work. The trigger when activated could relieve boredom, reduce stress temporarily, satisfy the hunger and bring stimulation by engaging in the activity instead of doing the required task at hand. For example, a person might check their phone in work if bored and the reason for this is that the brain craves distraction and stimulation.
When identifying the cue that causes the craving and knowing the reward, to implement a new habit, a new routine needs to be tested.
When in work and stressed this would lead to procrastination as I would always go into dream mode or take a break and go have a snack or make a coffee. Though the stress would of been dealt with temporarily the workload would always build up and as a result lead to further stress and frustration.
I needed to make a positive change in dealing with stress so there were a couple of questions I would ask myself to be aware of the stress trigger such as:
What time is it and where am I currently at?
How am I feeling now? (ex. Bored, stressed, frustrated, etc.)
What action am I taking to influence this craving?
To implement my new habits of dealing with stress in work I would write down my action steps for my working week instead of engaging in old habits and as a result I became more focused, motivated and productive in my work. I would meditate every morning before work started, stick to my schedule for that day by planning it out the night before, go for a walk during my lunch break and having a healthy diet and exercise after work all helped to eliminate my stress. As a result I would not get distracted and bored. It is important to write out the steps for new habits to successfully implement new routines and adjustments for improvements where necessary.
If you are looking at developing more positive habits into your life such as exercising more, eating healthy, quit smoking, reduce alcohol consumption or whatever the change is, reading The Power Of Habit is a good start moving in the right direction.
