Getting Stuck in a Bad Habit

In the article “Habit Fields”, written by Jack Cheng on May 4, 2010, it talks about the things around us that store not only many memories but our behaviors as well. These stored behaviors are referred to as an object’s habit field which means that being around a certain object causes us to act in a certain way. More specifically, we create established behaviors when we use an object in a continued practice. This type of learning is called procedural memory, or memory on how to do things. According to Cheng, this type of behavior has become common with our desks and technological devices that we use everyday, but not always in the most productive way, as it’s easy to get distracted by social media websites every time we sit down to work. But we can change our habit fields, and one way Cheng says we can do that is to switch locations depending on the activity. Sit at a desk for work and a comfy chair for leisure activities so that every time you do one or the other, you have to move. This becomes a nuisance, and over time you will learn to stay in place at your desk. This simple change in habit field builds work habits that are prolonged, which will result in being more productive as well as let you expand your creativity and remember what it feels like to be completely absorbed in your work again.

This article was just what I needed to read as it opened my eyes to changes I need to make. I am probably one of the most distracted people I know when it comes to using computers and trying to get work done. Pretty much every time I get on my computer, the first thing I check is Facebook, then my school email, and then my Hotmail account. It has become such a conditioned behavior that I do it without even thinking. Once I’ve checked all three then I will start on whatever assignment I had originally gotten on my computer to do. Also, so many times throughout the assignment if I’m confused or get tired of working on it, I find myself checking one of those websites yet again. It’s become a pretty bad habit that I need to break.

Cheng’s articles made me realize how much better I could be utilizing my time. I would be able to get so much more work done just by having a set spot where I did my work. As a college student, it’s sort of hard to employ this concept in my dorm room as my desk is right by my bed. But just getting up and moving from my desk to my bed every time I want to check my Facebook would get to be very annoying, and I think this might just be the thing that gets me to stay in place at my desk longer. 

-k

References

Cheng, Jack. (2010). Habit Fields. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 305. 

          http://www.alistapart.com/articles/habit-fields/