Are You ADDICTED to Your Bad Habits?

Part 1 of a 3-part Series

Bad habits are addictive, and not just the ones that obviously harm you like drugs, alcohol and severe risk-taking.  Really, as funny as it sounds, one of the most prominent and “popular” bad habits is procrastination, and it has a lot in common with addiction behavior.  Procrastination is all about sacrificing long term benefit for a short term feeling.   “I don’t feel like it” – a mantra for procrastinators is the same excuse that gets people with chemical addictions into trouble: they NEVER feel like being sober.  Procrastinators NEVER feel like being productive.  So if we apply some techniques used to interrupt addiction, we can successfully interrupt bad habits that are currently running us.

Procrastination, and other bad habits, come from urges.  A habit, is a link or association between a stimulus (cue) and a response.  Your response becomes a habit when you give in to the cue (urge) repeatedly and it becomes automatic.  Urges rarely last for very long.  In fact, most feelings, in general, last no longer than about 30 minutes before the “weather” changes internally in our bodies and minds.

In recent studies, people who had substance addictions admitted to a high quality detoxification where there was no access to their drug of choice; they reported finding it remarkable how little craving they actually experienced.  Their urges disappeared when there was no choice other than sobriety.  If there is no opportunity to use, then there is no internal struggle.  Just like with addiction, it is actually your internal struggle that feeds your bad habits.  Trying to fight urges or desires is like trying to block a waterfall.  Resisting a task or behavior causes us to become inundated and consumed by the desire to avoid it, yet we actually build the desire by resisting it so hard.  If we can approach our bad habit with mindfulness, we learn to step aside and watch the water (cravings, impulses & urges) just go right past.  Once the feelings clear, we are free to follow through with our true commitment.

Urge surfing is a way of being mindful.  It is a term coined by psychologist Dr. Alan Marlatt as part of a program of relapse prevention he developed for people recovering from addictions, but it is a technique that is of great use to procrastinators, as well.  Mindfulness helps us stay focused on the big picture of our lives.  It helps us to make choices that are based on our commitments, not our feelings.  It is a technique that interrupts the habit by responding to cues (urges) in a new way.  Urge surfing allows us to recognize our feelings, but not be controlled by them.

Urge surfing gives you the ability to stand back, observe what is happening and think about what you are doing rather than being on automatic pilot.  It helps you to see your feelings and then be aware and make a conscious choice, which opens up the opportunity for you to choose what you are committed to.

 “Whatever the present moment contains, accept is as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.”     ~Eckhart Tolle

CALL TO ACTION:  Notice your bad habits, and don’t resist them.  Just identify them and notice how they use you.  Come back Wednesday for part 2 of this 3 part series!