The Power of Micro Habits

Guest Post :: Ever wanted to carve out weekly hours to work out, or 20 minutes a day to meditate?  I know I have.  But with two small kids and a new business, starting any sort of regimen has been ‘challenging’, to put it mildly.  Owning a business is a time-consuming endeavor, and it can feel near impossible to carve out regular windows of time. Good habits and stress relievers usually take the back burner to the business and home life. And sadly, once you break a habit, it can be hard to get back into it. Fortunately, research has shown that all you need to do to spark some big changes in your life is form some micro habits. We’re talking maybe five minutes out of your day – something actually attainable!  In my case, I decided to start small, and tear myself away from my coworking business once a day to at least walk around the block.  But once I begin, that short walk often turns into twenty minutes of brisk exercise.

Here are some ideas you can use to create micro habits that can inspire new behaviors:

1. Have big dreams, but attainable daily goals. Thinking abstractly has been proven to help motivate people. However, if you set unattainable daily goals you can quickly become discouraged from those dreams. Set your dream goals, and then set the minimum work you would need to do daily to achieve that goal.

For example, to many of us the idea of finding 30 minutes in your day to exercise seems impossible. But instead of telling yourself you need to work out for 30 minutes a day, tell yourself you just need to complete the 5 minute warm up to your workout. Or if you want to make it even simpler, just make it a habit to put on your athletic shoes every day. Once you have your shoes on, it’s easy to transition into the warm up. And once you’ve done the warm up, maybe you’ll have the time and energy to do the entire workout. But if all you have the time or energy for that day is just to put the shoes on, you have completed at least completed your daily goal.

2. Eliminate excessive options. President Obama only wears blue or black suits to pare down on choice. Making too many decisions can be mentally draining, no matter how benign or pleasant those decisions may be. Half of the battle of working out can be deciding what to wear. But when you set out your clothes the night before, the decision is made for you when you wake up.

3. Create a meaningful routine to do the behavior. Instead of worrying about getting up 30 minutes early to work out, just focus on putting on your athletic shoes every morning. In this way, you create a stress-free routine that you associate with working out. With less stress associate with exercising, you’ll be going through your warm up and exercise routine in no time.

4. Finally, create a reward to solidify the micro habits. This is the fun part! It can be simple, like waiting to complete the habit to treat yourself to your favorite of tea, or ordering from your favorite restaurant. Rewarding yourself for GID will encourage you to continue.

By following these simple steps you’ll be building micro habits that will make a positive impact on your life in no time!

Liane Jackson is the founder of Free Range Office, a coworking, meeting and event space that opened in 2013.  Free Range is located in the trendy Wicker Park-Bucktown neighborhood, not far from downtown Chicago, and is home to startups and freelancers, along with all sorts of independent and mobile workers.  A busy entrepreneur, journalist and attorney, Liane is mom to two children, ages five and three.  In addition to running Free Range, Liane also contributes to the American Bar Association Journal and does pro bono legal work.