top of page

Habit Hacks You Can Steal as I Work through My '60 Habits Before I Turn 60' Challenge

Writer's picture: Susan McCarthySusan McCarthy

As I work to develop 60 Habits Before I Turn 60, I've collected different techniques for forming new habits. If you're trying to develop your own habits, give these methods a try.


Closeup of hands writing in a journal about the new habits they are forming.

About a week before my 59th birthday, I felt like I wanted to do something to mark heading into my sixtieth year. But I wasn’t going to travel or sky dive or take an improv class.


I realized that I wanted a general lift to my life. I’m a huge fan of Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project, in which she added a handful of themed habits each month, growing her list of actions throughout the year.


So, I decided to work at developing sixty habits between my 59th and 60th birthdays. These would start small, perhaps ridiculously small, and grow when appropriate. I’d add habits related to health, relationships, productivity, and well-being.


Instead of trying to eradicate bad habits, I’d focus on adding in good habits, hoping that unfavorable habits would get pushed to the side by better behaviors.

 

Where, Oh Where, Did My Habits Go?

Several years back, I had a host of routines that carried me through the day. They’d developed over time and weren’t particularly rigid since my work hours varied day-to-day. And these weren’t all perfect, shiny habits. I had a lot of bad habits that nestled into my routines.


But after nearly a decade of upheavals, first with my mother’s health issues and then my father’, I’d worked hard to create stability with my routines.


Yet my days felt stale, so I joined a couple of small nonprofit groups in my town. Then I joined the Boards. I found tasks being thrown at me that were outside what I normally dealt with. I thought these would be growth experiences.


Not only did I push myself outside my comfort zone, once outside, I locked the door. Scrambling to meet a lot of new responsibilities, I (all too easily) lost my meditation, journaling, and exercise routines. I even struggled with my organizing routines and the resulting clutter left me feeling even more stressed.


Unfortunately, I tried to compensate for my struggles by taking on even more. (Crazy, right?) Priorities were noted on my to-do lists that would get buried by other papers. In this time, I underwent psychoneurological testing and learned, at age 57, that I have ADHD.


This offered insight into why I seemed to be in my own way. I slowly released some responsibilities while adding others. I was left with the dull feeling of barely being able to get through the day.


So, while thinking of what to add to my sixtieth year, I wanted to do things that would help me feel

better. I wanted to bring calm and focus into my days and feel more purposeful and less reactive.

I would bring back habits and routines.


Cover of the free downloadable guide, Flexible Habits.

Do the Habit Early in the Day

My first habit was to post a short video each day tracking my progress. But I dislike seeing myself on camera. The weight I’ve gained, my frizzy hair, the comfortable but obviously unsupportive bras.


Because I felt self-conscious, I went off-camera and made mini slideshows; I incorporated videos of my cat into my habit journey. They weren’t great, but they were done. I could work on being more methodical later.


Then my schedule changed a few days a week, and I went from posting in the morning to “oh, damn, did I forget to do this?”. Lesson: do a habit early in the day so that it’s out of the way. Particularly if you feel lukewarm about the habit.


Which brings me to getting clear on why you want a habit. A lukewarm, “yeah, it would be good, I guess, to do this” kind of habit is going to be a struggle.


You should have a good reason for introducing a habit into your life. You should want to do it. Be excited about the benefits of having the habit.


I need to connect with my desire to make longer, more meaningful videos on YouTube to talk about decluttering and habits. These short videos now will help me to feel comfortable(ish) on camera.

 

Annoy Yourself

My second habit would be to step on the scale every morning. Back when my weight started going up, I stopped getting on the scale. Yup, dumb since that’s the reason you get on the scale, to monitor where you are and adjust.


When I’d forgot to do this habit, I’d do it the moment I remembered, even if it was later in the day. The annoyance factor of interrupting whatever I was doing to do this habit seemed to remind me to do it when I wanted to do it.

 

Try a Free-Range Habit

Even though I consider myself organized, I still have the bad habit of setting something down and leaving it there. I could even walk by it a half-dozen times during the day and still ignore it. My house is small, and my husband has a hobby that results in a lot of knickknacks. The last thing I needed to do was leave stuff on the kitchen table, dining table, and in a pile on the floor of my bedroom.


So, my third habit was to check for this detritus at the end of the day and put things away. But I found that defining this habit led to me tidying throughout the day. I’d go to set something down and find myself thinking, “really?” and then putting it away.


This was a reminder that not all habits need to be locked into a certain time of day or even linked to another action, particularly if it is a small, quick habit.

 


Cover of the free downloadable guide, Flexible Habits.

Link Small Habits into a Mini Routine

One of the things I missed from the routines I used to have, was mornings of meditating, journaling, and exercising. A few times I’d try to go back to what I used to do but even if I managed to force myself to do a day, that was it. It was too much, and I couldn’t muster the enthusiasm or energy for a second day.


This sporadic effort was even worse than doing nothing at all because it was a reminder that I could do these things; I just gave my energy to reading a book instead. A useful pursuit, but not the one I wanted to focus on.


So, I decided to go tiny. I’d do one minute each of meditation, visualization, walking in place, journaling, and planning the day. My thought was that I’d get up, put on the coffee, do my mini morning routine, and reward myself with brewed coffee.


I forgot to plan for kitty belly rubs. Biscuits isn’t a snuggly cat, but she will drop down at your feet and roll around, looking to be pat.


Okay, small adjustment. Put on the coffee, then pat the cat, then do my five-minute routine.


Although this was five new (renewed?) habits, they had a logical flow. I quickly added a couple of minutes to my meditation session. I stopped timing journaling and planning because it wasn’t necessary.


So, if a group of actions interlock or flow together, and are started off ridiculously small, it seems possible to add a group of habits at once.


I’ll keep growing each action. Slowly. I know from experience that if I drift off to do something else (belly rubs being the exception), that I may be asking too much of myself.

 

Prepare to Adjust

The fifth habit I decided to develop was based on BJ Fogg’s Tiny Habit’s formula and involved celebration.


Celebration doesn’t involve massages or dinners out as a reward for establishing habits. Instead, they rely on Fogg’s studies that say emotions change behaviors (better even than consistency).


Celebration involves doing a budding habit and then telling yourself “Good job,” giving yourself a high five (or imagining this), singing or humming a line from an uplifting song.


How easy does this sound? And who wouldn’t want to hear cheering thoughts throughout the day?

Apparently, me.


While I’m just dealing with a handful of habits, so far this is the most challenging. It’s more than a bit discouraging to think that being kind to myself is such a foreign activity that this is the habit that’s kicking me in the butt.


I’ve decided that I need to experiment with different methods of celebration (Fogg lists a hundred ideas in his book) to find one that feels uplifting but also truer.



Cover of the free, downloadable guide, Flexible Habits.

 

One Month into My Habits Challenge

Habit formation is a process. I didn’t expect this to be easy. However, keeping the actions small makes this a realistic process. I also created a tracker (a habit for my habits) to both remind me of what I want to do and to encourage me to reflect on what needs tweaking.


If you are developing your own habits, don’t give up if your first attempt isn’t a perfect match. Be willing to experiment –


  • Do the habit early in the day so it’s done.

  • If you forget a habit, do it when you remember. This irritation may help you to remember.

  • Try what I think of as “free-range” habits and do it whenever during the day. If it doesn’t get done, then link it to a time or another action.

  • If you have a group of habits that you want to develop, try to keep them small and do them one after another.

  • And, most important, be willing to adjust as opposed to giving up.


One month in I won’t say that I feel happier, calmer, more focused, or more productive. Not that I expected that. I feel discouraged for feeling discouraged which suggests adding more habits connected to my mindset.


I don’t have a schedule of habits I’ll be forming. I’ve thought of making one but realized that I’d rather be more responsive and add habits that feel necessary.


How about you? Are you a Habit Ninja, sneaking new habits into your days? Or do you struggle to form good habits? I’d love to hear about your experiences.


Closeup of hands as they fill out a paper tracker for their new habits.

Closeup of a habit tracker.

1 view0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page