Breaking habits

[Unregistered]

Such good advice about using GTD to MAKE good habits. Any advice about how to BREAK bad ones? I can recognize the behaviors, the people, the circumstances which are sabotaging me, but I haven't been able to translate good GTD traits into avoidance. GTD is great for procrastination, but what about when I'm procrastinating over STOPPING an unhealthy habit? The regular posters to this Forum are brilliant, IMHO. I'm counting on you!

[Brent]

In my experience, it depends greatly on the habit. Different habits can be broken different ways.

Can you share with us some of the habits that you want to break?

[CKH]

Something else that can stand in the way of dropping a "bad" habit is fear of the unknown (ask me how I know...).

Cynthia

[Gameboy70]

It would probably more productive to think of the good habit you'd want to install in the bad habit's place, rather than thinking in terms of stopping the bad habit. Telling yourself not to eat junk food is like telling yourself not to think of pink elephants: you have to think of the subject just to operate the instruction. Make the replacement habit a project and define the successful outcome and the next action.

[Unregistered]

Thanks, friendly folks. No more details from me. You're right, a new habit has to take its place. Distraction and Substitution, as for toddlers!

[LeonGTD]

When you have formed with good habits, your bad habits will be disappear. "A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit." Desiderius Erasmus

[Unregistered]

Thank you, LeonGTD, thank you very much. For what it's worth, your post prompted me to draft a log comparable to the procrastination log recommended by Neil Fiore (The NOW Habit). Three columns: What goes wrong, What I do, What I could do instead. Now if I only had the right hammer.