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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at KU chapter.

The beginning of March signals the start of a new season. You may decide to declutter your closet or get rid of those things you just don’t use anymore. While you’re at that though, you might as well get rid of those bad habits too. 

We all have bad habits and we might think they’re harmless, but they might be doing more harm than you think. Habits tend to transfer over into other aspects of our lives, without us even releasing it. Some of us may have bad habits without even knowing they’re bad. So here are three questions to ask if you’re questioning if your habit is that bad. Is it helpful, is it useful and is it contributing to where you want to go in life? If your answer is no to any of those questions, you could do without that habit. 

 

Original Illustration by Sketchify in Canva

So, you’ve identified you have a bad habit, now what? You probably have heard of the 21-day rule. It takes 21 days to make or break a habit. Hate to break it to you, but that’s incorrect. The idea comes from a book called Psycho-cybernetics written by Maxwell Maltz, a cosmetic surgeon, in the 1960s. In actuality, according to a study from The British Journal of General Practice, it takes an average of 66 days for a habit to be built or broken. 

a photo of an open planner
Free-Photos | Pixabay

 

That might sound kind of discouraging, but there are some easy tricks to finally break that bad habit. The first thing you’ll want to do is analyze that behavior; what time of day do you do it, how do you feel when you do it, is there something that triggers that habit. Once you’ve analyzed your behavior, be mindful of those things. One of the easiest ways to break a bad habit is to replace that habit with a new beneficial one.

 

Here are some examples on new habits to replace bad ones:

  • binge-watching way too much TV… go on a nice long walk instead

  • scrolling on TikTok when you’re supposed to be studying … start leaving your phone on the other side of the room

  • biting your nails… paint your nails anti-bite nail polish. You can usually find it at any drug store.

  • never doing your skincare routine … set aside a specific time at night to do it and set reminders

woman applying lotion
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels

Breaking habits are hard and you might mess up a few times that’s okay. (That’s why they’re called habits.) You got this, girl! Buy a calendar, leave sticky notes everywhere as reminders or even get a friend to hold you accountable. There is nothing you can’t do and just remember you are going to be way better off without those destructive habits.

 

 

Hanna Brown is the writing director at the Her Campus at KU (University of Kansas) chapter. She oversees the writing team and acts as the publisher, ensuring all articles meet the Her Campus standards of quality and reverence. In addition to her duties as the publisher, Hanna leads weekly writer meetings and builds a safe environment where writers feel empowered to be creative. Beyond Her Campus, Hanna is the marketing/communication assistant for the Engineering Career Center at KU. Last summer, Hanna interned for Burns & McDonnell as a marketing writer/editor. There, she gained experience writing technical blogs centered around engineering, copy for digital marketing and new releases. She also interned for Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline in corporate communications. A senior at KU, Hanna is pursuing a BSJ in digital marketing communications, advertising and public relations with a minor in history. In her free time, Hanna loves to visit local coffee shops and explore her college town. She is obsessed with the Sims 4 and wants to start a podcast. Her motivation in life is to do everything in love. After college, Hanna hopes to move to the city and start a career in public relations, branding, digital marketing or copy/content writing.
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