Household Hacks: How to Keep the Resolutions You Made

There’s so much advice on New Years resolutions, but at the risk of stating the obvious, the start is only the beginning. Everyone understands the concept of making New Years resolutions, but we all have trouble actually going through with them. The main consensus seems to be that the only way to truly change is to be very lazy about it. You read that right—lazy. Do nothing more than roll them out in microscopic bits. For example, if you want to form the habit of flossing your teeth, start with flossing one tooth. Work your way up to two, then three and so on until you do all of them without even thinking about it. In the spirit of laziness, I have some ideas to get you started without much effort. You don’t need to spend money, you don’t even need to leave your house. You can repurpose things you already have to keep a visual reminder in front of you at all times.

1. You know those Post-It bookmark tabs that you buy and only use two or three of them before they either disappear in the black hole of your drawer or become a very dusty part of your desk decorations? Decide how many days you think it will take you to develop your habit (usually 21 or 30), then put up a tab for each day with the number of the day written on it. Line them up on a wall, door or side of a book shelf so you can have the satisfaction of taking them down as you do your chosen resolution each day (go for a walk, call your extended family, write 500 words of your book).
2. That adorable magnetized note pad you have on your fridge with a lady bug design or a Disney princess on it can serve for more than just the grocery list. Each day write a new benefit of developing the habit you’re trying to start up, or a detriment of not doing it. (E.g. have healthy gums, have whiter teeth, impress that cute guy with my dazzling smile or develop cavities, have a root canal, be broke for a few months to pay for it.)
3. Move things around in your house. If you want to get up on time, have your spouse or someone else who lives with you hide your alarm clock in a different spot every night so you have to find it to turn it off. If you want to work out in the morning, put your running shoes and yoga pants in the exact spot that your feet touch the floor when you wake up. If you want to remember to take your vitamins, put the bottle next to your car keys or your cell phone. If you can’t bring yourself to sit at your desk and finish your manuscript, move your laptop to the swing bench on your front porch and do it there.

Above all, the one thing not to do is to attempt to stop bad habits. Again, you read correctly. Don’t try to stop. It’s infinitely harder to stop habits—whether good or bad—than it is to begin them. Focus on beginnings. You can even think of your new resolutions as experiments in order to remove the stigma of failure. If something doesn’t work, don’t give up on your resolution, just try a different method of accomplishing it. As Edison said, “I have not failed once. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” Best wishes in 2014!