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How to make new habits a success in Lockdown; Go and grab a daily snack!

Apr 12, 2021

As Physios whose work is very hands on and personal, lockdown meant that we suddenly had to move to online consultations from home. Like many, this created a whole new routine and rhythm to the day for me. I suddenly found myself sitting for longer periods ,something I definitely wasn’t conditioned to .

One observation from now offering online consultations is that many of you are working harder than ever and having difficulty ‘leaving work’ at the end of the day. With longer hours sitting in less than an ideal office setups, the result is more back and neck ache.

I frequently tune in to the podcast Feel better, Live More with Dr Rangan Chatterjee. One that resonated with me recently was with Prof BJ Fogg, a behavioural scientist at Stanford university on Tiny Habits .

Habits it seems are all about emotion and feeling successful. He explains why it does not take a certain number of days or weeks to establish a new habit. In fact, repetition and time have nothing to do with it. When you do something and feel successful, that behaviour becomes more automatic.

New habits fail because we usually aim too high and make them too big at the outset — which often leads us to fail. People are more likely to keep that habit because the new behaviours do not require a lot of motivation at all. “When you go tiny, you do not need to rely on willpower or motivation, ′ Fogg writes. “Tiny will grow bigger, just like a seed grows into a tree.”

Even more beneficial is the HABIT SNACK STACK. Start a new behaviour following something that is already a staple in your routine e.g. boiling the kettle or brushing your teeth.

Using this concept, I encourage you to add a few daily movement snacks into the day. Most of us get up to put the kettle on or grab a snack from the kitchen so use this opportunity to do 1-2 minutes of exercise which gives you body a chance to move and goes a long way to prevent or rid the body of the creeping aches of sustained sitting .

Watch my movement snack here

Remember your best posture is your next posture. As always, we are here to help online or over the phone. Get in touch; book here or ring (01534) 490312 and start your rehab journey with me at The Jersey Sports & Spinal Clinic.

Stay safe and stay well.

Clare