Second Cup: Pair little tasks

Make good habits automatic with this one simple trick. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to pair little tasks with things you
already do. By pairing habits, you'll be less likely to
forget them. We all have little things we know we
should do regularly. Maybe it's flossing or writing in a journal.

(00:27):
It can be very powerful to make these good decisions automatic,
but building habits is hard. That's why I'm always on
the lookout for ways to make habit building easier. So
I love this suggestion that I received from Before Breakfast
listener Peggy. She wrote in that I realize I have
a habit that helps me with getting little things done
that can be overlooked. I try to combine two or

(00:49):
more tasks so that I don't forget one of them.
She gave me a few examples of pairings that worked
well in her life. When I make my bed in
the morning, she says, I pray. If I see my
bed isn't made, I know I forgot to pray. Also,
Peggy notes that she injured a muscle in her leg
at one point and knows she needs to stretch it.

(01:09):
I was forgetting to stretch it after running, as I'm
usually short on time in the morning, she says. I
found when I am in the shower and conditioning my
hair after a run, I just stretched that particular muscle
for a few minutes while I let my conditioner sit.
I had problems for years with this muscle, but once
I started this routine, it hasn't been a problem. Praying
and stretching are frequent tasks, but other little things don't

(01:32):
need to be done nearly as often. There are a
few tasks I have to do once a month, Peggy writes,
I finally realized I needed to combine them all on
the same day. The first of each month, I put
in a new pair of contacts, budget and write out
checks to my kids music and dance teachers, wash my
vacuum filters, and do the cleaning cycle on my washing machine.

(01:54):
I have written down my monthly items on my phone,
and I do them all at once. I think these
are ideas. All sorts of little habits can be paired
with others. For instance, I've suggested in previous episodes that
people keep time logs. It's empowering to know where the
time goes, but It's also easy to forget to write
down where the time went until so much time has

(02:15):
passed that you no longer remember. So I suggest that,
at least during the work day, people pair time tracking
with bathroom breaks. When you come back from a bathroom break,
write down what you did since the last one. Or
here's another opportunity for pairing. I don't know about you,
but my car has a tendency to accumulate a lot
of trash. Now, when I'm putting gas in my car,

(02:38):
I set the handle to keep pumping, and then I
clean out the car. This feels like a real win
because I wasn't using that time for anything important anyway,
and now I have a much cleaner vehicle. I don't
watch TV much, and I almost never watch it live,
but if you're watching something with commercials, this can be
a great time to do something like stretching or strength training.

(02:59):
Or you can use the time while food heats up
in the microwave. In our house, we stack mail on
the counter under our microwave, and it has a tendency
to pile up. If I sort the mail anytime I'm
using the microwave, I can avoid losing important notes in
the mess now. To be clear, I don't think we
need to pack every minute of every day. People can

(03:20):
go a little overboard with pairing. I have personally been
mocked in more than one article for the idea of
using microwave time for anything. But I also do know
that small things done repeatedly add up habits are powerful.
But relying on our conscious minds to remember to do
all the things we know we should do, it's just

(03:41):
asking for failure. Pairing new habits with things we already
do greatly increases the chances that we stick with them.
Just ask Peggy, whose leg injury is no longer bothering
her and who's keeping a spiritual commitment. She decided to
make two. What happens do you pair together? I'd love
to hear about them. Please email me your pairs Before

(04:04):
Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot com. In the meantime,
this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

(04:28):
and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
number four. Then Breakfast p o D. You can also
shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
media dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with
all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I

(04:55):
heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. M