Your Drug of Choice?

Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting anything untoward by that.

The point here though, is that many of us (me included) may have a “drug of choice,” serving a specific purpose, of which we’re not even properly aware.

Examples

I got to thinking about this when several people started saying, in various different ways, that a particular habit they wanted to break became very much worse when they also wanted to procrastinate over a given task. For example (and these are hypothetical, but they mirror what was said) a person might have an extra glass of wine in order to put off putting together an important presentation. Someone else might smoke a cigarette to put off the time when they have to make an emotionally-challenging phonecall. And in my own case, far from hypothetically, I know when I’m avoiding something when I start to eat instead of act.

The advantage

The advantage of this connection though (and yes, there is an advantage) is that by being aware of the connection between your habit and the thing you want to avoid, you get the opportunity to deal with two issues for the price of one. Working on the procrastination loosens the habit, and identifying and challenging the habit helps you to take more action.

Where to begin

There’s no “right” or “wrong” place to start here. One idea that’s been useful so far is to have myself (or another person with a habit or procrastination they want to change) get really aware of how they feel just prior to performing the habit, and what they are avoiding by doing it.

Just that awareness is surprisingly effective at opening the door for change.

And, on another note entirely, as the end of this week is just as crammed as the last, this is the last blog until Monday, so do have a good weekend.

More soon

Clare