Three Steps to Developing and Maintaining Healthy Habits

A new year often means a spate of new resolutions, typically involving better habits.  But resolutions can quickly fall by the wayside.  Patterns, after all, can be hard to change, especially for people with executive function challenges.  Fortunately, there is also a body of literature and advice geared towards both developing and maintaining healthy habits.  We’ve sorted through the best of them to come up with three steps to developing and maintaining healthy habits for the coming year.

Step One: Start Small

James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, teaches that small changes can be building blocks leading to larger changes.  In one example, he writes about someone whose goal is to work out at the gym more frequently, but who has difficulty finding the motivation after a long day of work.  He suggests that rather than making a goal to work out more frequently, break it down into steps and start smaller.  The first week’s goal, for example, could be merely getting into the habit of changing into gym clothes after work.  Once this habit is firmly established, it’s easier to take the next logical step of heading out to the gym.

When looking to improve executive function, we’re all accustomed to hearing, “Break down long-term multi-part goals into manageable parts with timelines.”  James Clear’s example reminds us that this strategy is useful for more than just academics.

Step Two: Chunk or Stack New Habits

Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take 5 Minutes or Less, by S.J. Scott, gives readers a roadmap to building a habit stacking routine.  Habit stacking groups several productivity strategies together, often at a specific time and place.  For example, if you are feeling most productive first thing in the morning, think about what you can get done right off the bat when you get to work or school.  If mornings aren’t your thing, right in between getting home from work or school and settling down for the evening is another option for habit stacking.  Scott suggests starting your day by reviewing your goals and prioritizing your tasks.  Then, focus on your three most important tasks, so you don’t waste your day on things that aren’t important. 

If the time when you get home is where you want to stack your habits, another way to accomplish this might be to immediately prioritize homework assignments and get right to work on the most important.  Knowing that you’re going to make your priority list, and then do the first thing on the list every day is a great example of stacking together two habits to help manage your time and assignments.

Step Three: Measure Success One Day at a Time

While many of the books geared towards developing and maintaining healthy habits warn of dire consequences if you miss a day, we prefer a different approach.  Weight Watchers (now known as WW International) used to emphasize that you shouldn’t allow one off day on your diet to ruin your entire week.  The same can be said of missing a healthy habit when you’re hoping to build consistency.  Acknowledge it and move on.  Each new day is a new opportunity to maintain success – much like each new year is not only an opportunity for resolutions, but a time to reflect on the success you’ve already had.

Happy New Year from Essig Education Group!