Unhealthy Everyday Habits You Need To Let Go Right Now

We go about our daily lives oblivious to the fact that some of the things we do automatically are unhealthy.

This is because these actions have become so ingrained in our system that we no longer notice them. They’ve turned into a habit.

The problem is that our brain cannot tell whether the actions it has delegated to the basal ganglia, the brain region involved with habits, are good or bad.

As long as they are repeated often enough, they become part of what the brain considers to be a routine process, and thus they enter the habit loop.

So, what are these unintentional habits that you may have developed?

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Unhealthy everyday habits to stop

Here are some of the everyday unhealthy behaviors you should stop doing right now if you want to improve the quality of your life.

Engaging in negative self-talk

We all have that inner voice that tells us we are not good enough. It exists to second-guess our every move, and engaging with this negative voice keeps us stuck in the same place.

When negative thoughts creep in, keep in mind that you have the abilities and the right character for success. And thus ignore the negative self-talk.

When it starts saying ‘you can’t do it’ shift your thoughts to more positive things. For example, that time you won a project due to your excellent research and people skills combined with hard work.

Shifting or focusing your attention on more positive thoughts and feelings will drown out the negative thoughts. And make you more confident to face the day.

Worrying too much

Too much worrying subjects you to negative emotions that will not only make you feel bad all day. But will also have an adverse effect on your overall health.

The effects of too much worry on your health include the following:

• Headache,
• Irregular sleep,
• Poor concentration,
• Muscle tension,
• Irregular breathing,
• Stress,
• Indecision, and
• Exhaustion.

So this bad habit should be stopped right now. Continuing to engage in too much worry will break down your physical health in the long run. Making you more susceptible to illness.

To stop worrying, you need to be aware of when your thoughts lead you to worry. When this happens, you can either challenge the thought or channel it to more positive things.

You can challenge the worry by thinking about how a bad thing can happen in a logical way. For example, the whole family is scheduled for a road trip. And before the event, you start thinking that you will get involved in an accident.

To challenge this, think of how your spouse or you always make the necessary car inspection and maintenance check before a road trip. That you are both calm and responsible drivers. With these facts in hand, the likelihood of your family being involved in a car accident is low.

To channel the worry, think of how much fun your family will have at your destination. How you will have a great time bonding and making memories.

Both of these steps will undoubtedly help you spend less time worrying, if not completely eliminate it.

Procrastinating

We’ve all been guilty of procrastination at some point in our lives. But developing this into a habit will have a negative impact on you.

For one thing, putting off important tasks for another day will harm your career. For another, you waste valuable time doing menial or unimportant tasks. You will also feel guilty for not being able to deliver on time.

The habit of procrastination will also cause resentment from the people around you. It will lead to missing out on fantastic opportunities and increase your stress levels.

Thus, this is another bad habit you truly need to let go of right now.

To start with, you need to get to the reason why you procrastinate. Are you afraid of making a mistake? Is the task boring or not interesting enough? Do you feel overwhelmed by the task?

Knowing your reason for procrastination allows you to devise a strategy or process to tackle that task right away.

Saying ‘Yes’ to everything

Yet another bad habit that you may not be aware of is the habit of saying yes to everything.

As a result, you spread yourself too thin. You get stressed out. And you become resentful of the people to whom you said yes.

So, the next time someone asks you for a small favor or request, consider how it will affect you and your commitments. Better yet, simply say no.

It’s a reasonable response. You could also say something like, ‘let me check my calendar and get back to you,’ or some other non-committal response.

Multitasking

Multitasking has become commonplace for most of us, particularly at work. For some, being able to do two or three things at once has become a requirement.

The issue with multitasking is that it reduces your ability to focus. Two, it interferes with your concentration. Three, because your brain is wired to do one thing at a time, you will actually spend more time doing these various tasks. As a result, when switching from one task to another, your brain will require more time to refocus its attention.

So, if you want to improve your performance in your career or in your personal life, do things one at a time. It will help with output quality, increased creativity, and productivity.

Buying too much stuff

One of the reasons we keep buying things is that it makes us happy. We purchase items because we believe we ‘deserve’ them. Also, we are sucked in by excellent marketing strategies that instill in us a desire to own whatever is being advertised. Then there’s the fear of missing out, or FOMO, which makes us want to buy things ‘right now!’

However, buying stuff you don’t actually need is a bad habit that affects your finances, first and foremost. Some other negative effects of buying too much stuff include:

• Cluttered space,
• Additional stuff to maintain,
• Increased food and material waste,
• Increased stress trying to keep up with the trends,
• Feelings of dissatisfaction, and
• Feelings of inadequacy.

With these negative effects, it is imperative to break this habit immediately.

One strategy you can employ is to cultivate a grateful attitude. Be grateful for what you already have and try to make full use of it before purchasing something new.

In line with gratitude, you can also declutter your space. With this, you get to see for yourself how much stuff you actually have but don’t really use. It will give you a better perspective as to why you don’t need to buy new stuff.

Another option is to delete the shopping apps from your smartphone. Or, if you think this is extreme, place the app in several layers of folders to add some friction to accessing it.

Additionally, you can remove your credit card information from these apps or even Google. So that you also create friction by getting off your couch to get your credit card.

Lastly, avoid advertisements by spending less time on your phone, television, or computer.

Comfort eating

We tend to eat when we are stressed, distressed, lonely, or simply bored. Furthermore, the foods we crave are fatty, salty, or sweet. Foods that cause us physical discomfort rather than providing us with nutrients.

We turn to food for the comfort it provides while we eat. Comfort food can be enjoyable once in a while. But, when it becomes a habit, it can be detrimental to our overall health.

To stop comfort eating, we need to understand the source of our desire to eat. If it’s due to stress, find other stress-relieving activities you can do, such as exercise, yoga, running, or walking.

Additionally, you can put junk foods in your pantry where it is not visible. And put healthy snacks, such as apples or carrot sticks on visible areas of your dining area.

Finally, you also need to check if you are really hungry or just plain bored. If you’re hungry, you would be willing to eat an apple or a carrot stick. If you crave something else, then you’re not truly hungry.

Do some other interesting activity rather than eating.

Not drinking enough water

You may believe that this is not a bad habit, but it is. Drinking insufficient water deprives the body of the hydration it requires to function properly.

To name a few consequences of not drinking enough water, these include headaches, fatigue, constipation, cravings for sugar, and poor skin condition.

To avoid these negative effects, you need to incorporate drinking enough water into your daily activities.

Here are some ways you can improve your water hydration:

• Drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up.
• Drink a glass of water 30 minutes before mealtime. This trick also helps with weight loss.
• Drink a glass of water after each meal.
• Drink a glass of water a few hours before bedtime.
• Sip water throughout the day. It will help if you have a water bottle within reach.
• Keep your water interesting by infusing flavors such as cucumber, mint, lemon, or apple.
• Set reminders for water breaks.

With these simple steps, you will surely meet the water requirement for a healthy lifestyle.

Not getting enough sleep

One other bad habit we tend to practice every day is not getting enough sleep. Probably due to work, bingeing on television shows, or spending too much time scrolling social media.

Whatever the reason, for the lack of sleep, the consequences are the same. The negative effects include:

• Irritability
• Fatigue
• Lack of focus and concentration
• Weight gain
• Skin aging
• Increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.

To avoid all of these negative consequences and improve your quality of life, it is therefore beneficial to get a regular amount of sleep.

What is the best way to get enough sleep? You can start by creating a bedtime routine. That is, every day, establish a schedule for sleeping and waking up. You can also keep your bedroom dark and quiet for a better night’s sleep.

Additionally, make it a habit to turn off your screens—laptops, phones, tablets, and so on—an hour or two before going to bed.

These suggestions will undoubtedly assist you in getting the sleep you require to maintain good health.

Summary

To summarize, we may have some daily routines that are unhealthy and can harm our overall health. Some of these particularly unhealthy habits are:

• Engaging in negative self-talk,
• Worrying too much,
• Procrastinating,
• Saying ‘yes’ to everything,
• Multitasking,
• Buying too much stuff,
• Comfort eating,
• Not drinking enough water, and
• Not getting enough sleep.

So, in order to improve your overall health, it is best to let go of these unhealthy everyday habits right now.

Please share your thoughts or ideas about Unhealthy Everyday Habits You Need To Let Go Right Now in the comments below. And if you liked this article, you might be interested as well in these articles:

Why Good Habits Beat Motivation
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9 Simple Habits You Can Learn From Vampires
9 Effective Habits For A Happy Life
Building Good Habits For Your To Be
How To Break 9 Bad Habits That Keep You Down
7 Tips On How To Develop A Persistent Habit

Outside reference:

Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them