Randomness - Habits

Habits

It amazes me at how hard it is to break a habit. I'm not talking about an addiction, like smoking. I'm talking about a simple habit, something so insignificant, yet so ingrained, that changing it is a monumental task. What's the habit I'm currently trying to break? Looking at a clock.

Maybe it's more accurate to say I'm trying to stop looking where a clock used to be. A few months ago we did some remodeling to our kitchen, part of which involved removing a clock from the wall. No big deal, right? Tell that to my brain. Every time I walk through the kitchen, I glance up at where the clock used to hang. Every time I'm doing dishes and want to see what time it is, I glance up at an empty wall. It's not there any more. I realize what I'm doing as soon as I do it, but for some reason I just can't stop.

Which leads me to my next point. Habits are hard to break, so doesn't it make sense to develop good habits? If a habit like looking at a clock is so hard to break, you'd better believe that I'm going to try to create some good habits whenever I get a chance. I'm not just talking about turning off my phone before going into a movie theater or flossing before bedtime (both of which are great habits, by the way). No, I'm talking about business habits, about communication and workflow, about best practices.

I'm trying to record business expenses as soon as they occur. I'm trying to reply to emails as soon as possible. I'm trying to write a thank you note within 24 hours of a photo shoot. I'm trying to upload photos and charge my batteries as soon as I get home from a photo shoot. In short, I'm trying to make all of the necessary aspects of the business into habits so I can focus on the bigger things without worrying about whether or not I charged my batteries and uploaded my memory cards. I know how hard it is to break a habit. That's why I'm trying to make habits I won't have to break.