ProdPod, a Productivity Podcast

This is part three of our 4-part podcast on How to Form a Productive Habit. In this episode, we'll be discussing the realities of forming habits using the most current scientific data on automaticity.
About a year ago, the research associate in Health Psychology, Dr. Phillippa Lally, at University College London DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH in the
HEALTH BEHAVIOUR RESEARCH CENTRE performed a study on habit formation systematically as they reach automaticity.
The findings are quite interesting, albeit there are some constructive criticisms of the work. Here are the four main outcomes of the study and how it may help us with forming productive habits.
1. Automaticity took on average 66 days to be reached. Yes, 66 days. Banish the old concept of doing something repetitively for 21-30 days as once was thought.
2. Each person varies for similar habits. In the study, we found that the times ranged from 18 to 254 days to reach maximum automaticity. There are many variables why this may be the case: trying to learn too many new habits at once, not enough focus, time and/or attention, or other not-so-easily distinguishable idiosyncrasies. Ergo, don't think about reaching automaticity so much as the work of forming the habit. It'll reduce burnout.
3. Complex behaviors take more time. This may seem obvious but our previous understanding contradicts this. Don't beat yourself up so much about not building a productive habit of exercising regularly; it turns out that it may take significantly longer to reach that automatic state.
4. Counter to the great psychologist William James's theory, you can actually omit a behavior (say, miss a day at the gym) and it will have negligible effect on automaticity and long-term impact. However, there was some evidence that the effects of omitting the behavior was cumulative and so it's not a ticket to slack off, otherwise you won't be able to build that productive habit.
So, there you go. The real deal, theoretically, about forming habits from the latest in psychological understanding. Please join us for episode 15, our final part of How to Form a Productive Habit, where I'll be covering practical aspects of learning productive habits.

This is part two of our 4-part podcast on How to Form a Productive Habit. In this episode, we'll be discussing Unproductive Habits.

Most productive habits start by the realization of an unproductive one. So, my first piece of advice is to stop digging as best you can. If your clothing caught on fire, you shouldn't run as the fire will spread. The best thing to do is to stop, drop and roll, to cut off the oxygen vital to the fire. Much of your behaviors that built your unproductive habits were noticeable when you first formed them. Combat the unproductive habit by taking the time to reflect on it before replacing the unproductive habit with your newly-formed productive habit.

Next, ask yourself: What was the original purpose or reason for the development of this unproductive habit? What need/want did it fulfill? And what is the new necessity or desire you want to achieve? Write this down. Put it in a drawer and come back to it as often as necessary.

Negate as much negative self-speak and internal dialog. I also suggest not talking about habits as "good" or "bad" as it connotes judgment more than if something is quantitatively or qualitatively productive or not. And one final guideline: Avoid using the present or past tense of the modal auxiliary verbs: will, should, would, could, can, must, ought to, had better, dare and need. I find that people who keep their self-speak in the present indicative mood (I am a productive person. INSTEAD OF I will be a productive person.) tend to shed bad habits faster and long-term.

In this 4-part podcast, I'll be discussing how to Form a Productive Habit. In this first episode, I'll explain the groundwork for determining how you'll tackle the formation of a new habit. So, let's get right to it.
To make sure we're all speaking using the same understanding of terms, I'm going to define a few key items: habit, automaticity, habituation and sensitization. Then, I'll explain their relationship to forming productive habits.

2. Hearing is a sense. Listening is an active process. Develop your skills for listening not just hearing.

What if we can take the benefits of single-tasking--focus, greater creativity, more time to relax and less stress, and faster completion of tasks, and add the mythical promise of getting more done by multi-tasking?
First, break your day into locations and activities. For example, Home, Commute, Office, Gym, Commute, Home, and Bed are my basic times within which I control my work. Next, ask yourself what tasks daily, weekly, monthly, or any other repeating schedule, do I have to do things like meal preparation, laundry, cleaning, calling customer service or tech support with extended wait times, grocery shopping, etc. For each repeating errand, I can calculate conservatively from experience how much time they take. Finally, I look at my next-actions or projects list and find items that can be grouped together and done during these times when much of my activity requires waiting, for example, while the laundry and dryer are going, I can accomplish two to four 15-minute tasks.
When I'm planning my week ahead, I just review my calendar for these repeating errands and I can quickly and easily fill that time in with more productive tasks.
Remember, in order for meta-tasking to truly be beneficial is to prioritize tasks where shifting focus is minimal and gives you ample time to finish. Set yourself up for success by having small tasks grouped together. Satisfaction is the goal here, not just efficiency.