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Sunday 1 December 2013

Habit forming - feeding the fish

I posted last week about how I'm trying to improve my life by making good habits.  But actions require consistent practice to become a habit and you can't change everything at once.  So I'm introducing one new habit at a time, trying to focus on it consistently for five weeks, hoping that by the end of that time it will be a firmly fixed habit improving my life.

Last week I decided that I was going to drink more water.  I was going to make myself drink a glass of water every hour and a half, which would add up to about ten glasses of water.  I've not done badly.  I usually take my 10pm glass of water with me to bed, and drink it at some point during the night or when I wake in the morning.  The 7am glass is replaced by a cup of tea (not ideal I know).  The rest of the drinks throughout the day I'm pretty good at remembering.  Effects so far haven't been that beneficial.  I've been going to the loo all day long, and my spots seem to all have come out to play.  I'm hoping that's just my body getting used to the increased hydration and decrease in caffeine, but I'll have to wait and see if there's any adjustment over the coming weeks.  I wasn't so good today or yesterday.  When Hubby's home the kettle is on more often, and there isn't as much routine, so I find it very easy to forget I'm due another drink.  I'll keep working on it.

This week the habit I want to introduce is for the children, but it's up to me to be on top of it and keep reminding them until it's a habit.  We have a small tank of fish.  Currently there are only three fish in there, so it's my intention to restock up to about seven in the next week.  It's Bug's job to feed the fish in the morning, and C's job to feed them in the evening.  To help them remember, they are supposed to do it just before brushing their teeth, then they are also in the correct place to wash their hands too.  We were quite good at this routine item for a while, but it slipped after a long summer holiday, and now we more often forget to remind them and do it ourselves, meaning that the habit has slipped from the children.  It's my intention to refocus on this task, and make it a habitual part of their routine again.

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