You know those ordinary, mundane, monotonous things we do on a regular basis, have to do daily, need to do anyway? The mindless activities, the automatic tasks, the habitual chores: brushing our teeth, washing dishes, folding laundry, commuting, walking, breathing. I don’t know about you, but I like to identify those habits and take advantage of them by intentionally pairing them with something useful.
This is not habit-stacking nor multi-tasking (which isn’t real). Those are slightly different, and for another day. This is habit “pairing” or habit “bundling”, combining routine or automatic tasks, that require little mental effort, with mindful or intentional activities. Making the most of your time and mental energy, and hopefully making these chores/habits more enjoyable!
The idea is always to build a NEW habit by leveraging the consistency of a current habit. Pairing something mindless and mundane with something enjoyable and/or productive. Turning ordinary happenings into extraordinary opportunities!
Some of my habit-pairings include: a prayer while brushing my teeth, practicing gratitude while blow drying my hair, daily devotionals with my morning exercises, a call with my mom while folding laundry, an audio book while driving to appointments, short term goal setting while washing dishes, music with gardening, podcasts with walking, meditation with breathing…
Habit pairing is a way to transform everyday, automatic tasks and activities into opportunities for betterment, growth and enjoyment. Turning otherwise absent moments into moments of presence…opportunities for illumination. Yes, this is something I DO and something I have to have.
Click reply and tell me a habit pairing you already practice, or would like to start!