Everyday Bad Habits I Need to Break
This is real. These are my hands.
You don't need to wait for January 1st to make resolutions.
I'm not the kind of person who isn't able to recognize their flaws. If anything, I am too aware of them. That's another flaw of mine.
There are no rules about when you can and can't start trying to be a better person. You don't have to wait until Monday to start eating healthier. You can change your life whenever you want. Ideally, we should wake up every morning and try to lead a better life than the day before.
So here's to those of us vowing to "only buy one coffee a week" or to "only watch two hours of television a day". Here are some of the things I'm working on personally right now. And honestly, they're not going to well because I have terrible will-power, but it's all about baby steps, right?
Buying my lunch everyday
It's a blessing and a curse to work in an office that is the second story of an outdoor shopping mall, complete with Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble. On one hand, I'm never more than 100 yards away from a barista, can easily do all my Christmas shopping, and never have to worry when I accidentally leave my lunch at home. However, my bank account doesn't see this as a pro. I've gone from bringing my nicely packed lunchbox everyday to just figuring it out when I get to work because I'm lazy. Sometimes, I need to a take lunch break and go vent over a large salad with my co-workers, but mostly, I would rather finish whatever episode of Real Housewives I'm watching and go to bed. Right now, I'm legitimately eating pimento cheese and rice chips at my desk for lunch. It's delicious, but it cost me $8 this morning. An $8 I didn't need to spend. This section is all about the little ways to save money. Over time, my five lunches a week add up to probably $50. That's money I've already spent on food sitting in my refrigerator, but is now wasted. As much as I love this Whole Food pimento cheese, I need to stop relying on it (unless they bring back their mango salsa which is amazing).
Biting my nails
As I child, I put so many things in my mouth. Honestly, I think there was something wrong with me. I chewed arms off some my toys, destroyed any strings on hooded sweatshirts, and gnawed on all my straws. I don't remember having a very stressful life, but apparently I had a lot on my mind in those early years. Most people stop putting their fingers in their mouths in elementary school, but here I am in my mid-twenties (gag) still taking out my anxiety on my nail beds. To combat this, my solution is to paint my nails. It's like when farmers spray their crops with repellant to keep the animals from eating them, but like, if the farmer was also an animal and trying to protect their crops from themselves. Like a weird Jekyll and Hyde situation, but with my fingernails. However, I'm a smart animal farmer and will find a way to get what my subconscious needs, leaving me no choice but to start picking off my nail polish.
Picking off my nail polish
See above image. Real life, that is what I do to myself and I need to stop. I don't pay for manicures, but now I feel like I can't go get my nails done because what's the point if I'm just going to peal off the polish in 8 days? Picking off my polish keeps me from biting my nails, so that mission is accomplished, but at what cost. Yeah, I have long nails and they can look nice, but then it's hard to take my contacts out at the end of the day or open cans, so I don't really know where to go from here. I just know I have to find a different way to manage my anxieties.
Not drinking enough water
I used to be really good about staying hydrated. After working at a summer camp for a few years, it's concreted into your mind to remind everyone to constantly drink water because the last thing you need to be dealing with is a dehydrated 10 year-old. But now that I'm not in the Texas wilderness, that idea slips from my mind a lot. I'll be at my desk and realize I've only had one glass of water and it's after 2pm. Mostly, I'm just too lazy to keep getting up and walking all the way to the break room to fill up my water bottle, which is terrible, but I'm just really lazy. In addition to buying a larger water bottle, pretty much everyone in my department has downloaded this app called Plant Nanny. Basically, it's a water tracker, but you get to grow a plant. It's like your Love Fern a la How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, but BETTER because it has nothing to do with a heart-breaking bet. The more water you drink, the bigger your plant gets, plus you can set how often you'd like reminders to drink a glass. Honestly, I've killed a few plants because I'll dismiss the reminder one too many times, but at least I'm more cognizant of my drink habits, or lack there of.
Find it HERE on the App Store
Staring at my phone
I don't really know how to fix this, so here's hoping one of y'all will tweet me suggestions. Open forum, y'all. Sometimes on the weekends, I'll just leave my phone in a separate room, but at work I find myself easily distracted by the temptation to open up Instagram or Twitter for a few minutes.