I was speaking with a gentleman after a recent seminar. I asked him what his take-aways had been. He mentioned several of the items I normally hear from participants. But then he said, “If you do what you’ve always done, it can drain your energy and focus.”
That set me back on my heels, because this is something I usually mention in an off-handed way. But the more I’ve thought about it after our conversation, the more I’ve concluded it deserves more emphasis in what I say to groups.
We humans are creatures of habits and routines. As with so much of life, this can be both a blessing and a curse. Take morning routines for example. During the fall semester of my freshman year of college, I would sleep in until 7:45 and then rush across campus for my eight o’clock class. Like everyone who did this, I really wasn’t awake for the first half of what was taught.
Then one morning, I woke up at 7AM. I don’t know really know why. I just did. But this gave me time to grab some breakfast and get my head on straight before class began. It felt so good, I began doing this all the time and have continued ever since. This habit has served me well for the past 50 years.
On the other hand, I have allowed myself to be lulled into unproductive routines that have taken a lot of energy to overcome. Does this sound familiar? A colleague of mine once compared habits to threads, string, twine and rope. The longer you repeat a routine, the stronger the connection becomes in your brain. A relatively new routine might be thought of as being held by a thread. A routine that’s been around for long time, positive or negative, might thought of as being anchored by a ship’s rope.
These routines, of course, become neuropathways, releasing dopamine into your system, making them feel safe and pleasurable. When you come in contact with stimuli that make you think about these habits, your thoughts go in one of two directions. With a productive habit, such as exercise, this elevated level of dopamine will encourage you to enjoy the outcome. With a less-than-productive habit, you might feel drained, disappointed, even guilty after you have committed the act. It can be tougher and tougher to resist the urge to indulge in less-than productive habits the longer you’ve practiced them.
In an over-simplified statement, productive habits and routines contribute to your energy and focus and less-than-productive habits and routines tax them. In other words, if you do what you’ve always done, it can build or drain your energy and focus depending on the nature of the routine.
So, what can you do you to encourage one type and discourage, or even eliminate, the other? Here are three simple steps to get you started:
First, take stock of daily habits and routines. One of the biggest threats to productivity in any workplace is the statement, “That’s the way we’ve always done it.” On a personal level, you are probably completing tasks that are no longer necessary, can be streamlined, or even assigned to others. But when was the last time you really took time to take stock of what you do daily, weekly and monthly? Even if you eliminate one or two of these activities, you will have recaptured time and energy. After all, 15 minutes a week adds up to one and half days of work per year.
Second, stop trying to eliminate existing habits. You can’t. Why? Because habits are essentially neuropathways that have been established in your brain. Neuropathways cannot be erased. They have to be overridden with a stronger, more positive or productive habit, which is also established as a neuropathway. Spend too much time on social media? What can you replace this time with that will be more productive? Feeling like you’re stuck in a rut with certain work routines? Ask the co-workers around you who get more done to critique your routines and offer suggestions. Then adopt those ideas wholeheartedly. This may require some extra focus for the first couple of weeks, so ask them to hold you accountable.
Third, change your self-talk when overriding destructive habits. Saying something like, I don’t eat sweets anymore,” reminds the brain that you like to eat sweets. So, change your self-talk to something like, “I love salads.” I’m not kidding. I did this years ago and have really come to love salads. But this not just about eating. You can do the same thing if you feel stressed by demanding co-workers or customers, for instance. You might say to yourself, I ALWAYS take a breath before dealing with stressful situations. Simply making this a practice will have a calming effect and remove tension from all those involved.
So, once again, take stock, override bad habits and change your self-talk. Just accomplishing these three tactics will put you way ahead of most of those around you.