Your Step by Step Guide to Creating Healthy Habits at Work

Previously we published the Ultimate Guide to a Healthy Workday, parts 1 and 2. While these are all great tips, they are based on habits.  

So how do we go about creating new healthy habits at work? The answer is in a theory by James Clear. You can read in depth about it here, but we’ll save you some time and summarize the key lessons in a context that applies to you!

Basically, habits are formed based on a four-step process. So, if you want to form a new habit, what you have to do is follow this four-step process as it applies to the habit you’re trying to build! Let’s use the example of someone trying to make practicing mindfulness at work a habit:

1.    Cue: make it obvious – to form a habit, you want a reminder that is attached to it; a “cue” to set the habit in motion. Examples for cues to perform mindfulness could be when you’re feeling stressed, a specific time of day, a reminder on your phone every couple of hours, or even time at the end of your lunch hour. 

2.    Craving: make it attractive – obviously, if you dislike something, you’re much less likely to do it! Because of this, you have to make the habit attractive. This is where finding a form of mindfulness you enjoy comes into play. Whatever the habit, find a way to make it enjoyable.

3.    Response: make it easy – the goal is to remove as many barriers as possible between you and the habit you’re trying to form. For mindfulness at work, an example of a barrier could be interruptions from your coworkers. If you want to make this a habit, the key is to find a space where you can take five minutes to yourself and be uninterrupted. That way, you won’t have the excuse to not do it! 

4.    Reward: make it satisfying – the principles of punishments and rewards in order to reinforce habits is a well-known one. Our suggestion is to keep a log of the times you’ve performed the habit. Once you start to stack small wins (maybe you performed mindfulness every day at work this week?) you won’t want to stop!

Now, if you want a little help forming a healthy habit at work – like mindfulness – let us kickstart the process with one of our corporate wellness services, like our mindfulness classes!  

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You want to do it, but how do you do it?

Have you ever had a goal of making a positive lifestyle change? One that you really want to accomplish…but you just can’t seem to make it happen? Chances are the answer is yes. The problem here is that most people think it takes pure self-control and willpower to make a change happen.

However, that is far from the truth. Willpower is a finite resource, and self-control depletes it. So if you’re relying on self-control to make your desired changes, chances are it won’t get you very far for very long.

Not to worry. There are other tools at your disposal:

·       Stimulus control: the concept behind stimulus control is that people respond in a certain way to the presence or the absence of a stimulus, which can promote or inhibit a behavior. So for example, if you’re looking to cut down on junk food, remove it from your home. This way instead of relying on self-control, you can rely on being too lazy to go to the store to buy some! Conversely, if you’re looking to make it to the gym after work, keep your gym bag in your car with everything you need in the passenger seat (where you can see it).

·       Start with small incremental changes: a common mistake is to try to do too much too fast. While there’s nothing wrong with ambitiousness, think about it; if you currently struggle with being active, which are you more likely to do consistently for the next month – get to the gym 6 times in one week, or once a week? The key here is to start with ONE goal so small you can easily commit and adhere to it, then work up from there to avoid becoming discouraged or giving up.

·       Make a specific and actionable plan: Let’s say your goal is to make time for yourself on the weekends so that you can go into work feeling refreshed. Plan ahead to achieve that goal. Schedule that massage a week in advance and make sure the babysitter is available so that once the weekend rolls around you’re all ready to go.

The goal here is to make that lifestyle change into a habit. By combining these strategies you’re able to remove willpower from the equation and make lasting change – pain-free!

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