Ahh March 1st…I love the start of a brand new month…especially the month that brings the promise of spring. Spring is my favorite season. The beginning of new life all around me reminds me to take a look inwards and analyze the person I am and the habits I’ve formed over the last couple of months and whether or not they meet my ultimate goal of honoring God each and every day. You see I’m a creature of habit. A lot of what I do is done out of habit and I really don’t mind that so much. It takes a lot of pressure off me to know that I can forget about certain things that need to be done because those things get done repetitively and often unconciously. This is a good thing when the habits are good ones. For instance, my habit of getting groceries every Monday morning, my habit of having a place for everything, my habit of not letting papers pile up, my habit of eating the same breakfast and lunch everyday (maybe that isn’t so good but it sure makes my life easier), my nightly getting ready for bed habit with each step done in the exact same order every single night (yeah some might call that one OCD…lol). My point is once these habits are formed they are easy to maintain because they are done routinely each day without fail. I guard these good habits with my life because I know from experience that one or two days without doing them and I’m sunk. It is amazing how quickly good habits are to lose but yet how hard they are to develop often taking a good 3-4 weeks to catch on. Yikes!
Bad habits, of course, are the exact opposite…..easy to form and painful to quit. Often I don’t even realize a bad habit has formed because it has become so automatic and I don’t consiously realize I’m even doing it……like my sugar habit for instance which I wasn’t even aware that I had until I stopped one day to analyze how much sugar I was actually ingesting each day all simply out of habit. Or have you noticed how quickly a good habit can turn into a bad habit if we aren’t careful….like my blogging habit for example, how quickly the time gets away from me and before I know it I’ve spent two hours on the computer when I should have been doing other things.
The start of a new season is as great a time as any to take a look at our habits, good and bad, to become conscious of them and determine whether or not we want or need to change them.
If you need a little help developing new habits, my friend Lara, started something a couple of months ago called Smart Habit Saturday designed specifically with this purpose in mind. It is being met with a lot of success and you may also find it beneficial. The only reason I haven’t participated myself is due to my no blogging on the weekend habit 🙂
Also with spring around the corner comes spring cleaning and organizing which means I’m gearing up to throw another 30 Day Organizational Challenge starting April 1st. Yeehah!! More to come on that later.
The last thing I want to leave you with is this excellent monthly calendar for March that might spur on some great new habits to form. I’ll be using some of the days as blog topics throughout the coming month as well as applying them to my own life.
Habit: an action or behavior pattern that is regular, repetitive, and often unconscious
~yolanda says
This is nice. Looking forward to the topics related to the March calendar. 🙂
Becky says
I really do need to evaluate my *bad* habits. I’ve been adding good habits through the SMART habit Saturday. But, I think it’s time I starting removing some of the bad ones. And, yes Spring is a great time to do this! I can’t wait for your coming posts. You are such an inspiration! Thank you!
Kim says
This is a great post,Laura! I know I have habits that need to be removed or worked on.
It is always very refreshing to visit your blog!
Kim
Rona's Home Page says
That’s a great way to approach Springtime.
Lynn says
Clearly you are in the habit of being not only organized but also wise!
Barb says
Hi Laura,
I’m finally doing a little catching up over here. The post you did a few days ago on organizing a move is wonderful. I’m amazed how many of our blogging friends are actually moving right now so I hope they see this. Some very sound advice in there!
And look at how successful your Menu Plan Monday has become. This really caught on – good for you.
I love this post about habits. My whole life revolves around habits (all good habits, promise) and it’s when things get crazy and I can’t use my habits that I feel myself becoming antsy and unsettled. Definitely OCD, I know, but habits make life run more smoothly I think. Very thought-provoking post.
The Lazy Organizer says
Great post! You know I’ll be stealing it this week right?
I was going to start bugging you about another challenge so I’m glad to hear you have one in the works. I really need to finish another closet but I don’t think I can do it without your help!
GiBee says
YIKES!
I need to start a habbit of: cleaning stuff up right away; the habbit of not dropping clothing on the floor; the habbit of not letting things pile up; the habbit of having a place for everything.
Sadly, I am sooo unorganized. When YOU see clutter and messes, your brain sees boxes, baskets, carriers, organizers. When I see clutter, MY brain freezes, panics, sees a mess, then goes running in the opposite direction!
Sometimes, OCD is a good thing.
Thea says
I definitely have some bad habits to dispell, that’s for sure…
Christine says
It’s a great idea to revisit your habits during the spring. With this renewal can come much motivation! Thanks for the encouragement!
Blessed Beyond Measure says
I’m a pretty organized person, but love coming here to see what else I can learn. We can always learn from someone else! I’m about to go in and do 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches – Weight Watchers so I dont have to think about them every day – just takes up way too much time. All that effort for 10 minutes of eating is just not worth it. I was glad to see someone else does this.
IRENE says
I so much enjoy reading your posts, wise and down to earth, and yes, honoring God!Thank you.
Kristen says
Eating the same foods over and over is what causes allergies/intolerances. Just FYI.