Break Bad Habits

Habit: Always looking at your cell phone or tablet. Change: Whether it’s email or Facebook, you may be a little addicted. Best advice is to acknowledge the problem and make an agreement with your spouse or friends to set limits on your online time. You probably already do this with your kids so maybe you can do this together. Habit: Clearing your throat all the time. Change: You may not even know you do this. The problem, however, may be medical (allergies, acid reflux). Try an over-the-counter cough suppressant or talk to your doctor. Habit: Selective listening. Change: Maybe you just tune people out when you’re thinking about something else. Try this: Pick a code word (not “HELLO!” – that’s annoying) for your spouse/kids/friends to use when they really want your attention. Habit: Being a back-seat driver. Change: Focus on something else (a conversation on another subject, something you did that day), not on what the driver is doing. Habit: Interrupting conversations. Change: If you’re interrupting, learn to be more patient and listen. If someone is interrupting you, perhaps you are rambling and should get to the point. Or, just ask the interrupter to let you finish your thought.