10 Weird Habits That Changed My Life

Productivity is something that we strive to get better at but it’s not always easy and distractions come easy. Today, I’m sharing 10 Weird Habits That Changed My Life.

Watch the full video here:

Habit Stacking

Creating a new habit can be difficult, some say it takes 21 days, for me it takes a lot longer.

I learned about Habit Stacking from the book Atomic Habits.

Basically what it is: when you have a habit that you’ve already created, add a new habit every time you do that one.

For example:

Every time you brush your teeth do 20 squats.

Current habit: Brushing your teeth

New habit: 20 squats

Another example:

Every time you make coffee, you unload the dishwasher.

Current habit: Making coffee

New Habit: Unload the dishwasher

2-Minute Rule

If its going to take you under 2 minutes to do it… just do it NOW!

For example: when you hang a picture, put the hammer and level back in the garage rather than leaving it on the dining room table for a week.

Put away the groceries as soon as get home. This has saved me from not forgetting a hidden cold item (I used to just put away the cold items away)

30-Second Rule

Every time you leave a room (or your car) take 30 seconds to take any trash, cups, or items with you that don’t belong in that room.

15-Minute Cleanups

Set a 15 minute timer or even better a 15 minute YouTube video and clean as much as you can in that time.

This does a couple things for our brain. First, it gives us permission to stop/take a break with the 15 minutes are up. Second, you will be surprised how much you can accomplish in those 15 minutes. Third, it is less overwhelming than saying you have to clean the WHOLE.

I did this trick a lot when I was pregnant because I could only stand for about 15 minutes without major back pain. So I would put on a 15 minute YouTube video and wash as many dishes as I could in that time. If they were only half done, that’s totally fine, I would do another 15 minute video a couple hours later.

This also works great if you want to clean the “whole house”, just spend 15 minutes in each room. You will be surprised at how much progress you can make in that time!

Set Timers For Unwanted Tasks (Pomodoro Technique)

Need to clear out your email or create an outline for work? Set a 45 minute timer then once it goes off, time to take a break!

This is called the Pomodoro Technique. Themuse.com explains it as “The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages people to work with the time they have—rather than against it.”

I use the Pomodoro Technique a lot for my business. I am not someone that can write a blog post easily, so I’ll say, “Kelly, you only have to write for the next 45 minutes”.

Depending on the project, I make it so I NEED to get it done in that time, or I will do it in chunks. In between each chunk, I get a break!

Log All Of Your Purchases

Having a written budget and logging all of your purchases is so important for hitting your financial goals.

If you take 10 minutes ever 2-3 days to log into your bank accounts and log all of your purchases it will help keep you stay on track with your money and it won’t seem as overwhelming if you wait until the end of the month.

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Only Check Out On Amazon Once Per Week

Are you guilty of making MULTIPLE Amazon purchases throughout the week? Try only checking out ONCE per week.

You can add to your cart throughout the week but pick one day a week to sit down, evaluate your cart and decide if you really need everything or if you can remove some impulse purchases.

Have A Notebook When Focusing

Do you ever think of random things when you are “in the zone”?

Whether its to schedule a demist appointment, or add strawberries to the grocery list, those thoughts are distracting. Especially if they lead you to your phone.

If I do those things right then, even something as simple as opening my phone to add strawberries to my grocery list, I will get distracted by a text or checking email.

Instead, I have a notepad next to me to jot those items down to deal with them after I’m done.

Our brains were made for creating, not storing.

When we are in our “creative” mode and we are constantly telling ourselves “Don’t forget this, don’t forget that”, it isn’t able to let go and be creative.

Get those thoughts out and get creative! This is also why brain dumping is so effective!

Use A Reward System

There is a reason why we were given Gold Stars on our tests as kids. We love rewards.

Now that we are adults we can have bigger and better rewards for both long term and short term goals or tasks.

For example:

I have a reward for myself that when I hit 50,000 YouTube subscribers I will treat myself to a spa day.

I also set rewards that if I film 2 YouTube videos then I get to veg out and watch a tv show.

I’ve even done PRE-rewards to get myself motivated.

(I did this a lot when I was pregnant)

I made 2 fresh baked cookies that I got to enjoy BEFORE filming my 2 YouTube videos.

When we are really lacking motivation, pre-rewards can really help to give you the boost you need!

Check In Once A Day With A Friend

Make it a point to text or call someone once a day to just see how they are doing, encourage them or tell them I’m praying for them.

This helps keeps relationships from getting stale. When the pandemic happened a lot of my friendships went stale, out of sight out of mind.

Making it a point to check in with someone different everyday really helps to maintain friendships.

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