Cueing for new habits
Last week we talked about creating a habit of being present during meal time so we can develop some awareness around our eating habits and stop some of our bad habits in their tracks just by becoming aware of them.
So you want to be mindful of your eating but eating lunch is a cue to pull out you phone and catch up on social media, emails or whatever you do to distract yourself while you are eating. How do you make yourself aware of cues to be able to replace a bad habit with a good one?
There are 4 basic ways cues are triggered:
Time
Location
Preceding Event
Emotional State
For the purposes of meals, the cues probably fit into the first 3 categories, time, location, preceding event. For example, with time, you look at your clock and see that it’s 12:00 and it’s time for lunch. For location, it might be a cue of walking into the kitchen or sitting down at the dining table. For preceding event, it might be that after you brush your teeth, you head to the kitchen and turn on the news while you prepare breakfast.
In order to change habits, the recognition of a cue that triggers the behavior is the biggest way to shift the behavior.
For example if you normally sit down at your desk for work and check emails on your computer while you eat, then changing locations to go eat somewhere away from your desk (without your phone) can remind you that you are supposed to be focusing on being mindful and present during your lunch.
A time trigger can be switched to trigger you to charge your device while you eat so you can use it with better battery after dinner.
A preceding event can be switched to turn on the tv while you prepare breakfast but turn on the sleep feature so that the tv automatically turns off after 15 minutes to remind you to be mindful while eating your breakfast.
Spend some time today thinking about what some of your triggers might be and brainstorm ways to CHANGE to the cues that trigger bad habits into good habits.
