15- How your environment can affect the things
Designing your environment to promote your habits
I’ve always been fascinated by the brilliantly engineered machine that is the human body. It’s how I found myself studying medicine. We have all these organs and all these senses, working together to do everything from keep us out of danger to regulating our body temperature. Of all our sensory abilities as humans, the most powerful is vision. A big part of the human brain is dedicated to decoding the signals received from the eyes in order to determine what actions to follow.
We are very visual beings.
It therefore stands to reason that the things we constantly see will have an impact on our actions/habits. We are products of our environment more than we realise. This is why, despite your best intentions, it’s more difficult to hold on to your routines when you find yourself in an unfamiliar location. Conversely this sometimes also makes it easier to pick up new habits and routines when you’re in a new location.
When you realise that your environment can either help or hinder your progress towards your goals, the importance of designing your environment becomes apparent. This doesn’t (always) require more space or resources (even though both are always appreciated), but more of arranging the things in your life in such a way that they support your goals.
As part of my healthy lifestyle goals, I have always tried to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into my diet. If I’m being all the way honest, fruit > veg for obvious reasons including less prep time, so I always include fruit in my grocery shop. But just like those tiktok videos of things that never happened, my apples and bananas would mostly end up in the trash. Until I bought myself the fanciest fruit basket from Tk Maxx in rose gold that now sits on my dining table. So now, every morning I automatically reach for whatever fruit looks like it’s going to go bad first and as a result I’m not only wasting less food but also having regular comfortable bowel movements thanks to my increased fibre intake. Wins all around.
I did something similar with my hard to pick up flossing habit. I repurposed one of my old candle jars and put the floss sticks in there and it now sits on my sink, next to my other oral care apparatus and while the flossing is still not as regular as my dentist would like, there has been improvement.
Given the times we now live in, where many of us spend considerable amounts of time online, our digital environments also play a very very important role that I hope to discuss in more detail another time.
As part of measures to cut down my screen time while still feeding my vanity, I hid the Instagram icon on my home screen and now I automatically put my phone back down after a few minutes because that purply pink camera icon isn’t winking at me from my screen. Speaking of Instagram, since I unfollowed all the sample sales accounts, I haven’t had to call my credit card company to dispute the amount in the “balance due” column.
Sometimes we just do things because they’re in front of us. We respond to the visual cues that we are constantly presented with. So take advantage of our default human wiring and fill your environment with the visual cues that will produce your desired habit.
The thought of taking DAILY multivitamins sounds impossible because you will never remember? Maybe keep them on your nightstand next to your journal that you also hope to write in daily (nice habit stacking there) and maybe when you reach for that light switch you might see the bottles there and remember to take your vitamins.
You want to run more regularly? Leave your running shoes by the door.
You want to increase your water intake? Buy yourself fancy water bottles and carry them with you everywhere.
You get the idea.
What’s that small change in what you see daily that can make a positive change in the things that you do.
This week I read
This newsletter recommended by my friend Funmi. I feel like I’ve met a colleague. Similar message. You should check him out.
This week on Twitter
I came across a series of tweets about how this girl used her social media to boost her MBA application, including going on dates with guys from the schools she was applying to and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.
We have had ridiculously amazing weather for England this week. You will not hear me complain about the heat because anything is better than the suffering that is winter. Anyway, I have been out and about, living my best Cinderella meets SJP life and I have zero complaints at this time.
That’s it from me for now.
Go forth and live your intentionally designed life.
Chioma.