This weekend, I was reminded by someone (ahem, Peter) that my habit of bringing my phone with me to bed doesn’t just impact me, it’s an issue for both of us. Put in that perspective, I realized it was probably time to tackle that particular bad habit of mine, which of course led to pondering this post! Let’s talk about the bad habit you know you have.. and also the habit that might seem bad, but in reality, it exists for a reason.. and maybe it needs to change, but it probably shouldn’t just be kicked to the curb entirely.
The Bad Habit
This is the habit that you know is a bad one for you. You might have excuses for it, but at your core, you’re pretty damn sure it’s not serving you. For me, it’s the phone in the bedroom. Sure, I set it to do not disturb. Sure, I try not to check it before I go to bed. But note that even as I’m rationalizing in this paragraph, I still admit that I’m only—at best—trying not to check it at night. Do you know what happens when you scroll social media at 10PM? Nothing good. Now, here’s the struggle: I am an anxious human. While I do have my phone on DND, my family knows that I have it set to put calls from them through, so keeping it in the bedroom is my ‘in case of emergency’ thing. At least, that’s what I tell myself. It’s also my alarm clock when we do need a backup to our light-based silent alarm. It’s where I jot down notes while I’m reading before bed… And none of these reasons are good reasons to keep it in there at night. I’d hear it from the other room if my sister called. I could buy a cheap alarm clock. I could (and actually do) keep a regular notebook on my nightstand for those random notes.
I just like having my phone close by. At least, I do until I see something that makes it impossible for me to fall asleep, or when I waste the first 15 minutes of my morning scrolling Instagram instead of getting up and getting moving.
SOLUTION: So, now that I put it out there, what am I doing about it? Moving my charger to outside the bedroom. Simple, right? We’ll see—but luckily, this is a habit that has a simple setup for fixing. I need to charge my phone at night, so moving the charger is the simple step to try first. Bonus: This is what we call a Rockslide Habit in our book, Becoming A Consummate Athlete. To us, that means you make one big change—in this case, moving the charger—and it starts a cascade of good habitual behavior, in this case, not having my phone in bed.
The Habit that Needs Tweaking
OK, habit type number two: The habit that isn’t ideal, but at the same time, stopping it entirely isn’t ideal either. Maybe you have something like this. Here’s mine: I am a dessert person. Have been forever. And not a ‘1 piece of dark chocolate’ type, more of a ‘bowl of ice cream’ situation. This isn’t ideal for my blood sugar and sleep, especially as I get older. But at the same time, I run 100+ kilometers per week and do some strength and whatnot.
Here’s the thing: Cancelling dessert entirely is something I’ve tried before, and almost immediately saw decreases in performance because despite my best efforts, I don’t eat enough during the day. So this wasn’t a bad habit, it was a habit that was based on hunger cues and needing more calories. And frankly, I like dessert and that’s OK.
SOLUTION: I know I’m not the only one in this boat. But I did want to drop down the sugar while increasing my protein and macronutrient intake, while making sure I’m feeling satiated. I’ve been working on figuring out the best solution for this for a while now, and a few weeks ago, I finally stumbled on a solution that seems to be working pretty darn well: Chia seed protein pudding. It takes 30 seconds to make a batch for the week: 1/2 cup of chia seeds, 1 1/2 cups almond milk, and a couple scoops of a whey protein powder that you like. Shake it up, refrigerate, and it’s ready in a few hours! Great if you loved tapioca pudding as a kid. And OK, it’s not exactly the same as a bowl of ice cream… so I also have a couple of small pieces of the milk chocolate that I used to eat in bulk, plus some berries, and that seems to do the trick.
(For other dessert recipes, I highly recommend Lottie Bildirici’s Running on Veggies, since she’s a firm believer in desserts that taste good and help you perform! I’m trying her tahini fudge recipe next.)
A Couple Questions to Shift Your Perspective
- Does this habit need to be ‘quit’ or just tweaked?
- What is the reason you’ve continued with the habit / any reason to continue with it? (Ex: Sugar-heavy desserts near bedtime might not be ideal, but athletes may struggle to get enough calories otherwise)
- Who else does this habit impact? (Ex: I would probably keep having bad sleep with my phone by the bed, but if Peter is bothered by it, that’s a bigger reason to change.)
- Is there an easy solution to stopping/changing this habit? (Ex: Moving the charger so you can’t keep the phone in the bedroom)
- Or is there a small step I can take towards shifting the habit to something that serves you better? (Ex: A healthier but satisfying dessert option)
Want more on habit change? Check out our book, Becoming A Consummate Athlete, right here:
