{"id":6371,"date":"2022-03-06T19:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-06T18:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=111095"},"modified":"2022-03-06T19:13:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-06T18:13:09","slug":"why-am-i-such-a-creature-of-habit","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/why-am-i-such-a-creature-of-habit\/","title":{"rendered":"Why am I such a creature of habit?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Christian Jarrett\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 06 March 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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A friend of mine kept a dozen or more boxes of the same breakfast cereal lined up in his kitchen. He enjoyed this particular cereal and did not want to waste any brainpower seeking an alternative. What he lost in variety and spontaneity, he made up for in efficiency. That, in a nutshell, is the virtue of habits \u2013 they\u2019re automatic, learned behaviours that provide a quick answer to life\u2019s puzzles.<\/p>\n

Without habits, you\u2019d be paralysed by endless deliberation from the moment you woke each day \u2013 whether to shower then eat, or eat then shower, what to eat, what to wear, which route to take to work, or where to park.<\/p>\n

Habits can also be comforting. If you follow the same routines each day, then you mostly know what to expect. If this suits you, then in personality terms, you are probably a low scorer in \u2018openness to experience\u2019, a tendency that tends to grow with age. A downside to habits is that not only are some of them obviously unhealthy, but having too many can hamper your creativity and deprive you of serendipity.<\/p>\n

If you want to change, bear in mind that habits tend to be triggered by cues in the environment \u2013 that cereal box in the kitchen, the caf\u00e9 on the way to work. That\u2019s why holidays are such a great antidote. Put yourself in novel situations and you\u2019re forced to think afresh rather than rely on old habits.<\/p>\n

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