Key Takeaways:

• 40% of your day consists of habits, with some studies showing it’s actually 43%. If you're like most people, almost half of your day is driven by actions without conscious choice, making it hard to break bad habits no matter how much willpower we have.
• The habit loop has three elements: cue, routine, and reward. Habits are hard to break because they provide an inherent reward. To build better habits, identify what you gain from unhealthy ones and replace them with healthier actions.
• Techniques like habit stacking—linking a new habit to an existing one—can help add beneficial activities to your life. For example, flossing after brushing your teeth or drinking water as soon as you open your laptop.
• Apps can play a big role in supporting your positive lifestyle choices. There are a lot of great options for staying on top of health and wellness goals such as MyFitnessPal, 10% Happier, or Sleep Cycle. 
• If you struggle with self-control, let technology help. You can use apps for things like calorie counting, reminders, meditation prompts, or limiting screen time. Shift, the app-integrated browser, can also keeps all your helpful apps in one place and limit access to apps or websites linked to unhealthy habits.

Did you know that about 40% of anything you do on a given day is habitual? Think about that for a second.

That means that most of us, much of the time, are on autopilot. It also means that the habits we develop contribute to our overall well-being in huge ways - for better or for worse. Healthy habits will make us happier, more productive, and contribute to a more fulfilling life. The opposite (unhealthy habits) can lead to poor performance in all areas of our lives. It just so happens that December is the perfect time to take stock of our own habits and the impact they make on our lives.

As the New Year dawns, many of us reflect on our lives and set resolutions aimed at improving our well-being. Building healthy habits is fundamental to achieving these goals, as they serve as the foundation for a fulfilling life. When we cultivate consistent habits, we shape our daily lives and pave the way for long-term success.

Identifying Key Habits to Support Mental and Physical Health

In order to foster a healthier lifestyle,it’s important to identify specific healthy lifestyle habits that can positively impact both mental healthiness and physical health. When you plan to create new healthy habits for the new year, it’s important to understand how habits correlate to outcomes.

Examples of Beneficial Habits

Most people immediately think of new year resolutions like exercising more (which is certainly a worthy goal), but there are so many habits to evaluate across different areas of your life. For example, consider the following:

• Regular Exercise - This can range from structured workouts to simple activities like walking, dancing, or cycling. Adding in regular exercise to your daily routine can help with fitness and weight, along with all sorts of health impacts. People who work out regularly get better sleep, have less chronic conditions, and may even have better relationships with others (because they tend to be calmer and have greater emotional regulation). Most of us understand on some level that we should get physical exercise. However, understanding how that added activity can really impact your life can give you added motivation.
• Meditation and Mindfulness - Practicing mindfulness can reduce stress and improve mental clarity. If you don’t have time to sit through a full yoga class, try some bite-sized meditation activities like quiet breaks or starting your morning with a journal. You can also practice positive self-affirmations and staying present in the moment.
• Balanced Diet - This is another one of those areas where most of us realize there are benefits to eating healthier foods, but our current habits are hard to break. Incorporating a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins can enhance physical health and cognitive function, and are good goals for improving overall health and wellness.

To effectively adopt these habits, assess your current routines and pinpoint areas for improvement. You can start by making a list of habits that you’d like to change (or replace with healthy habits). Here are some concepts to help you get started:

• Identify the habit(s) you would like to change.
• Think about how the habit began, or when you first noticed it.
• Has the habit changed over time? If so, what changes have taken place?
• When do you typically engage in the behavior? Be specific.
• Does the habit occur in a specific location?
• What else is normally happening in your life when the habit occurs?
• Does the behavior affect other people in your life?
• What does the habit do for you? In other words, what is the “reward” in the cue/routine/reward habit loop?
• What are the rewards (or consequences) of your habit? How happy do they make you?
• Can you think of other habits that would make a more positive impact on others or yourself, or make you happier?
• How do your daily habits align with your overall life goals and values?

Because the brain follows a formula that is unconscious, it’s normally not easy to just stop doing something that is a habit. Instead, seek to replace the bad habit with a healthy habit. For example, instead of coming home each day and eating a bowl of ice cream, you might switch to a bowl of berries with fresh cream. Or, instead of waking up and instantly scrolling your phone, you could grab a journal and set an intention for the day.

Related Post: Reflecting on the Past Year: Lessons Learned and Achievements

Apps for Mental Health and Wellness

The good news is, you don’t have to do all of this reformulation alone. There are lots of tools out there that can help with both mental and physical health. Here are some of our favorites:

• MyFitnessPal for diet tracking
• Headspace for meditation
• Fitbit to monitor exercise
• 10% Happier for stress reduction
• PTSD Coach
• Feel Better for mental health
• Sleep Cycle for improving sleep quality
• Water Reminder for improved hydration
• Strava for running or walking

These tools can provide valuable insights and keep you motivated on your journey to better health.

Related Post: 5 Ways to Bring Wellness into your Workplace

Strategies for Habit Formation and Maintenance

Understanding how habits are formed can greatly assist in establishing new ones. The habit loop consists of three elements: cue, routine, and reward. This means that you first get a cue, which over time becomes unconscious, and then you engage in the habit behavior, and then you experience whatever positive consequence leads to the habit creation. On and on the cycle goes, where we keep getting that “reward”, so our body continues to recognize the cues to complete the habit.

One of the most common loops for many people is entering the kitchen in the morning. You likely exit your bedroom, walk into your kitchen still feeling a bit sleepy (maybe a bit grumpy if we’re being honest), and immediately start preparing coffee. Perhaps you have your coffee on a timer so it brewed before you got up, and the smell is your cue. Or maybe just walking into the kitchen tells your body it’s time for coffee. Then you prepare your coffee and as you sip it, you feel more ready to take on the day. There is nothing wrong with this habit, but it’s a good example of a behavior people begin to rely on - hence the prevalence of “don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee” mugs out there.

Creating Healthy Habits

Recognizing these components can help you create a framework for building positive habits. Techniques such as habit stacking—linking a new habit to an existing one—and making incremental changes can ease the transition into healthier routines. Here are a few common examples of inserting new, good habits into a current routine:

• As soon as you get out of bed, start making your bed. You need to wake up and get up anyway - try immediately making your bed to feel more neat and productive.
• While you drink your morning coffee, add meditation. You can sit with a book of intentions or just tell yourself a few positive things in the mirror. Eventually your brain will signal that when you pour coffee, it’s time for some deep thought.
• When you get dressed for the day, lay out work-out clothes for later. Then you’re more likely to exercise when you get home and have one less excuse.
• If you go on a walk, try calling your best friend for a quick chat. It’s great to catch up with others and you can get anything bothering you off your chest. This habit could be great for mental wellness and anxiety.
• You’re brushing your teeth anyway, just floss! Many adults struggle with this even though we all know better. Keep your floss right by your toothbrush so it’s staring at you as you brush.

Related Post: Morning Routines That Set You Up for Success

Apps for Habit Change

Utilizing habit tracking apps, like Habitica or Streaks, can help you maintain accountability and recognize your progress, making it easier to stay committed to your new habits. Here are some of the apps we really like for forming great habits:

• Streaks
• HabitNow
• Way of Life
• Habitica

Overcoming Common Obstacles to Maintaining New Habits

Despite our best intentions, obstacles often arise that hinder the maintenance of new habits. Common challenges include procrastination, lack of motivation, and poor time management.

• To combat procrastination, break your goals into smaller, manageable tasks. Write them down in your daily planner and write down larger goals to hold yourself accountable.
• Establishing a consistent schedule for your new habits can effectively address time management issues. Try to do things at the same time each day, and avoid falling into the trap of practicing new habits “when you have time” (hint: you’ll never have time).
• Seeking support from friends or joining community groups can bolster motivation. Being open with other people can also help with accountability, plus you might get some great new tips or be able to commiserate about the hard parts.

As you embark on this journey to build healthy habits in the New Year, remember to start small and remain committed. Consistency is key, and even minor changes can lead to significant improvements in mental health and wellness over time.

To further support your journey, consider using Shift, a browser that integrates various productivity tools and apps. With Shift, you can keep the necessary resources for building and sustaining healthy habits right in front of you in your workspace. This easy access makes it less likely for you to miss out on opportunities to engage with your chosen health or habit apps. Plus, you can limit your access to time-sucks and other apps that don’t contribute to your life in the best ways. By harnessing the power of Shift, you can stay organized and productive, ensuring that your commitment to healthy habits lasts throughout the year.

Related Post: The Web Browser Built for Power Users