“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a HABIT.”
Aristotle.
How true was Aristotle in this quote! Habits are the result of what we regularly do. Our routines and habits make us. We, including me, are not totally happy with ourselves as nobody is perfect. They always want to change something in themselves or the routines they are following. Forming a new habit or leaving or changing existing habit is a task that requires determination, efforts, and persistence. Also, they don’t change drastically, change happens over a period of time. As no area of life is left untouched by technology, why habits be left behind? Yes, you can now use technology productively to make or break habits.
Right from exercising, meditating to changing the way you think, the latest advancements can help you achieve the impossible. Here’s how you can use technology to improvise your lifestyle by changing your habits.
Mobile Apps
In this smartphone governed age, the best way to change something you are doing is to seek help of mobile apps. Whether you want to wake up early, include meditation in your routine life, stop checking social media during working hours, you can have an app downloaded to remind you of the same or record how often you are doing it. With apps, you can set reminders with notes, make specific audios play at preset times, set alarms at multiple times during the day, get reports on how you have been following or unfollowing a habit, get statistics, etc.
For instance, I wanted to be more productive by practicing mindfulness. I downloaded an app which would ring a bell at random times indirectly asking me to question myself, “Am I being productive?” With later updates, I was able to choose from the given options to answer what I was doing. This made me keep a check on myself whenever I deviated and used my time unproductively.
Don’t Miss –
5 Innovative Ways to Use New Technology in Business
10 Ways to Improve Employees’ Performance with Technology
Wearable Technology
This is the most favorite of health enthusiasts who want to keep a check on every step they take. Wearable technology monitors and measures the activities of users and helps them make suitable changes to their routines. Wearable devices give you clear picture of how much active you are or how much sleep you are taking. They can also be synced with your mobile devices for increased functionalities. The data derived from wearable technology can be used to keep a track on routines and make necessary changes, if needed.
Extensions
Why negate web when we spend so much of time on our personal computers and laptops? Adding relevant extensions to your web browsers can help you form or break a habit. They can help you keep a check on the websites you are browsing, display the amount of time you are spending on each of the tasks, track the goals you have achieved, restrict the time you use on social media, etc. to help you become more focused and productive. With extensions, you waste no time; even while working you are forming new habits or breaking old ones.
Wallpapers
Affirmations are one of the ways to wire your thinking in a specific way. They work at the subconscious level and help you become the person you wish to be. By setting wallpapers with messages that inspire you to act or not act in a particular way is a sure-fire way to transform your thinking and persuading yourself to form a unique set of habits. Whenever you use your phone, your wallpaper will shout out to you what you are supposed to do and what you are supposed to avoid. Though wallpapers have been existent from a long time, if we think creatively they can be used this way too!
Social Media
If you have control over how much social media you use or if social media is an integral part of your work life, then you can use the power of social media platforms to break certain habits and form new ones. By joining relevant discussion groups on social media, you can gain encouragement from like-minded individuals or those who are aiming to form similar habits. Sharing your progress can help you make feel more accountable and also get words of motivation and praise from fellow members. All this will inspire you to stick to the habit for life-long. It may also help you find people who had formed the habits you are aiming at and are following them religiously. This will increase your cognizance about behaviors to adopt to form a specific habit.
Internet of Things
The growth of IoT can never be ignored or left unsaid whenever we speak about technology. The possibility of connecting household gadgets with internet has transformed the way households are using them. By wiring IoT connected to specific gadget or customizing it, you can set limits to how much you use a particular thing. For instance, smart water bottles can show you data about how much water you are drinking, how much you need to drink, and when you should drink water. Smart clothes, and Smart TVs are other gadgets which can be wired to form certain habits.
We can only marvel at how technology can help us gain useful and life-changing habits. Technology, to an extent, reprimands you for repeating the routine ‘bad’ action or habit, it may show you statistics of how many days you were able to stick to a good habit, even further, it may also suggest you ways to bring in a change in your habits. Once you start using the app or relevant technology to modify your behavior, you may feel and see a change. Nevertheless, the real deal lies with you.
Bottom line is technology can HELP you change your habit, it is you who has to stick to the habit even after you stop using the relevant app or technology. What habits you formed or broke with the help of technology? To what extent is technology helpful in retaining habits? Share your opinions and experiences in the comment box below.
