Welp, after what felt like the longest year ever, is 2021. And with the new year often come secrets – perhaps more this time.
You may want to lose some of those “corona-kilos” or just maintain the good hygiene behaviors that are drumming to us at the time of the pandemic.
And in January, in particular, we have to wade through an attack of groups spewing the latest in rich / thin / appropriately fast-paced schemes or myths made by pop psychologists on television during the day.
But there are ways to develop good practice – and persuade them to continue – with the help of scientific evidence.
And it all starts – where else? – in the brain. But first: what are the practices, and why do we need them?
We are really ordinary creatures
A large piece of daily life is made up of routine activities. This is the stuff where you get going, you basically run on autopilot.
A classic example is driving to work (back when regular travel was a thing). You may remember getting into your car and then all of a sudden, you pull into your office car park.
But the first time you moved to work was a different story. They needed more brain power: planning and remembering the best route to your destination, paying attention to your surroundings and thinking harder about your actions and outcomes aca.
Tasks targeted are actions that we repeat to practice. They need a part of your brain just behind your forehead called the prefrontal cortex, says Karly Turner, a University of New South Wales neuroscientist whose research examines the brain circuits involved in habit formation.
There is also a collection of neurons called striatum, which are deeply absorbed in the brain.
It is the circulatory loop that encloses the prefrontal cortex and the central part of the striatum that controls our target functions.
And how we do something over and over and over again (like driving on the same route to work indoors, day out) and get what we exit (reach the office), we remove the prefrontal cortex and move control to a different region of the striatum, slightly to the side.
This keeps you performing these automated actions like stopping at red lights and going when cars move around.
And bam! We have a habit.
The good thing about practices is that they free up the prefrontal cortex so we can think of other, more important things, like yelling at your passenger.
If we didn’t get into routines and keep our prefrontal cortex in control of what we do in our waking hours, daily life would be terribly tired, Dr. Turner says.
But that high-level experience is still available to jump in and get over our automated tasks if needed, she said.
“If you stop at a red arrow, and everyone goes straight for the green, they will all move, and that sight will make you take your foot off the brake too, because that’s the habit .
“But then you realize you’re still on a red arrow, and you stop again. That’s the part of aiming for a goal kicking in.”
How to make, break and replace routines
Driving to work is one thing. How do you, for example, get used to an activity that you don’t have to do every day, like getting up early for a walk?
Like driving, you need to list your target system first. You will develop practice more quickly if there is an action or behavior a couple with a prize, and the sooner the reward, the better.
So you might be listening to your favorite podcast as you trot around the block.
Doing the the same thing at the same time in the same place also helps. For example, you might be putting out your gym clothes the night before so you can get dressed as soon as you get out of bed.
That scene – pulling on shorts, lamenting runners – will then be an incentive for behavior to go to the gym. And once you control your striatum and improve your usability, attachment and demeanor are connected, and rewards are no longer needed.
And one day you get dressed, tie your boots and walk out the door without thinking about it.
What about breaking a bad habit? Some will not leave at all, Dr. Turner says, but if they do replace one use with one, your brain is best kept up with the latest one.
“So you’re not always aware of the habits you may have,” she says.
Can you change your life in 28 days?
Despite any number of websites saying that you can develop a new use in 28 days, or 21, or 30 (depending on the site), the fact is that that is not cut and drying.
How often you have to take action again before it becomes a habit depends on a few things, such as the complexity of the behavior, says Barbara Mullan, professor of health psychology at Curtin University which studies the creation and maintenance of practices.
For example, starting and maintaining an exercise system from scratch is more complicated than, say, substituting sugary drinks for water.
That’s because there are more steps involved in complex behaviors.
“Even if you just want to go for a walk in the morning, you have to make sure you have the shoes, you have the clothes, you have to decide when you are going to do it, you have to -close where you are going. to do, “says Dr Mullan.
“And the more measures involved in any behavior, the more likely it is that it will be disturbed at some point.”
Plenty of these disturbances and we derail our brain’s progress in controlling our striatum.
Think big, start small
So if you are ready to create or renew practices in the new year, a small start.
Professor Mullan and colleagues have found simple, self-contained practices, which no one else needs, to improve in a few weeks.
Thinking deeply about your motivation, also, it can help you to develop practice faster. Most people don’t start exercising because they want to get more exercise; they do it to be healthier, stronger and healthier.
Similarly, if you want to get used to using a reusable cup for your morning takeaway coffee, Dr. Mullan says focus on your environmental values.
It’s easy to be really committed and set big goals at the beginning of the year, but you’ll soon realize that you don’t have the time or energy for a couple of back yoga classes every day.
So for starters, Dr. Mullan advises keeping a diary of sorts of your activities in a normal week, then choose new behaviors that are appropriate for your life situation.
If you are not a morning person, then you will not get up at break of day to go for a walk.
“And be honest: say ‘I can’t promise two hours of yoga every day, but I can walk 15 minutes at lunchtime,'” she says.
Anyone who has tried and failed to uphold the New Year ‘s resolution knows that it is easy to be discouraged if we do not meet the standards that we have set ourselves.
However, Dr Mullan says, many of the practices we want to put in place have improved over the years, “so we should not expect to be able to change our behavior in a day. ”.
So if you fall short, be kind to yourself.
“We have to show pity for ourselves, because if we establish a new custom or New Year’s resolution, and by the end of January it doesn’t work, we are too hard on ourselves,” says Dr Mullan. say.
“As soon as we can’t keep going, we think, well, there’s no point in trying. And that’s why a lot of people when they lose weight, they lose weight. put back, and then they put on a little more.
“It’s, in part, because we’re so ruthless to ourselves.”