Yes, Coronavirus has literally brought our world to a standstill. For many of us, living in self isolation and social distancing from family and friends is an unaccustomed feeling. The state is spooky… Not with a couple of countries, but the entire world has gone into a pause mood. And with this you may be really wondering by now, what to do in a self isolation?
In this scenario you have two great options, either sleep for days and days at a stretch and relax like nobody’s business. Or utilize this precious time to catch up with your life, cultivate new habits you have always wandered for.
Why it is important to know about habit formation?
Habit is a recurrent pattern of behavior formed through a combination of sequencing and regularity. In essence, habit formation is an ongoing process of observation and correction of our defaults.
Every one of us has dozens of productive habits that we do every day without much thought. While, many people try desperately to break bad habits - as they (habits) are the basis of your success or often can become your downfall.
For many, healthy habits are often harder to develop. But not that difficult if you are ready to adopt specific and reasonable goals for the positive change. It was quite exciting for me in the initial days of ‘stay at home’ challenge with a feeling that I could spent the maximum time with my kids. And now, as we are entering into the second week of home quarantine, I balance my time to explore and develop self as well.
Why does it take 21 days to form a habit?
Well forming a new habit may not be an easy task for everyone. You have to decide why and how important is that habit for you. You need to commit and hold yourself accountable (internally) for 21 days to form a new habit.
I would suggest breaking your habits into mini-habits. There are plenty of small achievable activities that are easy to carry on a daily basis. These days I have developed the habit of writing with a motive of expressing my thoughts. My idea was to pick a challenge that is within our limits.
Day 1 to 3 - is where our motivation starts and we start taking challenges. Day 4 to 10 – here most people quit, but my strategy is different (I am improving at this stage by taking my goal to the next level).
Day 11 to 14 - Will almost be a mini celebration for me.
Day 15 to 20 – I am going to analyze the difference, where I will finish 1/3 of the course.
Day 21 and once the habit becomes a part of my daily routine and will naturally continue the same even when the normal times reoccupy.
Also I have started taking up three to four activities a day like practicing yoga, trying some healthy recipes, completing my pending blog posts, reading self-help books, involving in community activities etc. and all these are making me feel rejuvenated.
Finally, three weeks is a long time. But it’s also a great time to dedicate your energy on creative outlets or forming new habits – which you were ignoring or unable to carry on a daily basis.
The spirit, like the body, accepts by praxis whatever habit or bent one urges it to contact…