10 fresh ways to trick yourself into breaking bad habits - and building better ones

Advertisement

laptop couch thinking

liquene/flickr

I could spend hours scrolling through Facebook updates. (This isn't a picture of me.)

Every night that I'm alone in my apartment, I grab my laptop and start scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed.

Advertisement

My intention is to spend five minutes catching up on people's life achievements and pretty vacation photos - and then suddenly, it's an hour later.

Afterwards, I feel kind of blech. Like I just wasted a chunk of precious non-working time that I could instead have used to call a friend, or take a walk, or clean my bedroom. But the next night, it's the same deal.

I'm assuming (hoping?) you can relate, even if your blech isn't the Facebook newsfeed. Which is why I've put together a list of 10 strategies, recommended by experts and backed by science, to help us break bad habits and start better ones.

I plan to use some, if not all, of these techniques to break my late-night Facebook habit. But they can be equally helpful for those who want to quit biting their nails, or start flossing daily, or hit the gym regularly after work.

Advertisement

Read on to learn how to take control of your daily routines - and hey, wish me luck.