Charting my Habits

I've never been very good at keeping good habits (go figure). I don't adhere well to a routine, and I am always procrastinating or forgetting to do certain chores, and my house suffers because of it. My body suffers because of it. My mental well-being suffers because of it.

So I did some deep thinking (my kids might call it the Noodle Dance, though no dancing was involved) and I came up with my new Chart system. It's been in effect for 8 days now, and I'm already seeing positive changes! Here's how it works.

I wrote a short list of things that I want to get done every day. Keep it basic, too. I would suggest starting with maybe 5-7 items. Any more than that may be too much to handle. For example:

-Brush teeth (and kids') twice a day
-Watch Your Baby Can Read twice a day
-Dishes
-Laundry
-Make the beds
-Sweep
-Work out

I put it in chart form with the days of the month, and a check box for each item each day. The trick here is KEEP IT SIMPLE. You're trying to form good habits, and overloading yourself from the start is not the way to do it. Baby steps. Focus on just accomplishing each item, and not how much of each item you accomplish. Don't say "do ALL dishes", don't say "sweep the ENTIRE house", and don't say "Work out for an hour, do 20 pushups and run a mile." Also, don't put a time limit on them or specify when it has to be done each day. No "make the beds at 10am" or "brush teeth at 7 and 4". Check off the item if you did it at all. I swept the living room, therefore "sweep" can be checked off. I did one load of dishes, and I washed a load of laundry (even if I didn't fold it), therefore "dishes" and "laundry" can be checked off. To form a good habit, the first step is getting used to doing those things at all.

Do this for at least a week. If you are still not sure you're comfortable with it, go another week. Just get used to doing at least the basics of each item. You'll be surprised at how quickly doing the basics can lead you to do other chores without realizing it or having to talk yourself into it. I did the dishes the other day, and without thinking about it also wiped down the entire kitchen and made a new pitcher of tea.

After you are comfortable with these activities, then you can slowly start to modify them and add details. Small details. As I said, baby steps. You can change "Make the beds" into "Make the beds before lunch." You can change "work out" into "work out for at least 15 minutes." Anything small like that. Don't add details to everything at the same time, either. I would suggest making one change a week.

Over time, you will not only gain these positive habits, but you will also feel better about yourself. I know it makes me feel accomplished and proud of myself every time I check off an item, and I am excited every time I have completed every item in a day. Plus, doing all of these things has made my house cleaner, I have more energy, and I feel like I am in control. Over time, I expect that I will no longer need a chart; these things will be such a normal part of my day that I will not need a chart to get them done.

Don't be discouraged if you miss something one day. Or even 2 things. The point is to form good habits, not to put yourself on a strict schedule. You can even set yourself a few basic ground rules (notice this entire thing is very BASIC; I keep it that way for a reason). For example, I don't let myself miss the same item 2 days in a row. If you miss something one day, don't take it overboard the next day. There is no need to "make up for lost time" on this. It's OKAY to miss something.

It also helps to give yourself little rewards for accomplishing your chart, either each day or each week. I might tell myself, "If I go all week and miss 3 items or less, I will order pizza on Saturday." Or maybe, "If I complete each item in a day, I will have a bowl of ice cream!" (I realize I just used two examples in which food was the reward; that's actually not a good habit to get into in itself... but I haven't had dinner yet so I'm hungry. A better reward might be to take a nice long bath, or play video games for an extra hour. If you do reward yourself with food or snacks, don't make it a normal thing. It's okay every once in a while.)

The details are all up to you. Just remember: keep it simple, take baby steps, and you'll have good habits before you know it! =)