We all know that in order to succeed, we have to get into the flow of making good, healthy life choices. Whether this is from a health perspective, a relationship one, or in your working life, it can be difficult to pinpoint exactly how you’re going to make that lasting change. This is why micro habits are the perfect place to start - after all small changes soon add up into big successes.
Good habits are famously easy to attempt and equally as easy to break. We begin with the best of intentions, but inevitably something happens, life gets in the way and the habits fall by the wayside. This can be prevented however. By starting small with some seemingly innocuous changes, or micro habits, you’ll be able to see them grow into bigger and more sustainable good habits for the future.
Switch Off
Unplugging yourself is a great habit to get into, but it can often seem like a massive adjustment to make now that everything seems to be online. To make it a more accessible habit to adopt, perhaps try switching off your phone and TV at 9pm. Whether you spend that time reading a book, getting an early night or catching up on your week’s home tasks, chances are it’ll be a lot more productive than scrolling through Twitter and getting aggravated at the state of the world.
If you have a work phone and a personal phone, take it one step further by leaving your work phone in your car. If you’re off the clock, then you’re off the clock. It’s true what they say, out of sight, out of mind. And I know what you’re going to say - but I need my phone in case anything happens - everyone in your team is also off the clock. This practice will force other good habits within the office environment, such as respecting deadlines and communicating with each other sufficiently within working hours. Once others adjust to you not answering your phone at all hours, the rest will fall into place and your work-life balance will improve accordingly.
Wake Up 10 Minutes Earlier
We all love getting a bit of a lie in, I know, but by shifting your alarm forward by just 10 minutes it can make a massive difference. Not only will you have more time to get ready, leading to a slightly less stressful and hectic start to your morning, but you might have time to get stuff done that you never thought you would have before.
For example, if you’re not rushing to down that cup of coffee in the morning, then maybe whilst you’re waiting for it to cool you can catch up on the morning’s headlines or get in a quick workout to get you ready for the day. By allowing yourself just a little bit of breathing room in the morning, you’ll be setting yourself up in a more positive headspace for the coming day. This will then translate to a more productive environment for the rest of your team, something that should help them to become a more efficient department.
Eat Healthier
Okay, okay, we know that we should all be eating more fruit and veg but this is more than that. The fact that you should be eating healthy is a no-brainer, especially if you’re in a high pressure job or industry. The habit to get into, as well as eating healthier, is to actually eat those three square meals a day. A lot of managers will just grab a coffee on the way to the office for breakfast, work through lunch, and have a quick but low-nutrition late dinner. Obviously, this is not good.
Food is fuel, first and foremost. You’re not going to have the energy to take on the day’s tasks if you’re not getting your daily intake. If your taxi is running on fumes, it’s not going to get you to your desired location - it might only get you halfway - don’t do things by halves. Getting into the micro habit of making sure you’re eating healthy and regular meals could be as simple as making sure you have some fruit or granola bars in your desk for when you get in each morning. Also, make the effort to go out of the office for your lunch. Whether that’s just for a wander or to go get a healthy meal deal, a change of scenery will help you reset for the rest of the afternoon.
Committing to creating good habits can be difficult, and sometimes you take a couple of steps backwards. By dividing up your aims into smaller, more manageable, micro habits, you have a much better chance at success and committing to those habitual changes long term.
With Wundamail, we take the stress out of team management by sending one daily email to your whole team for a progress update. Then, Wundamail compiles the responses into a single group email. Team activity is collated, condensed and circulated for all to see- no apps, usernames, or passwords needed. This way, you don’t have to spend your day sending tonnes of emails and chasing your team. Everyone knows where they stand, and with the ability to change the daily question to whatever you might need that day, Wundamail can help to drive real behavioural change within your team. Getting into good habits takes time, Wundamail helps to make it a bit easier.
