Fix Annoying Things, Close Drawers, Do Small Favors

I’m a person who likes to develop better habits. Not just at this time of year when new resolutions are afoot, but all year long. It’s been my experience that if you keep making small improvements, one day you look around and things have gotten better. I could use more better in my life.

Three general classes of habits have improved my life immeasurably:

• Fix annoying things
• Take the extra step
• Do small favors

Fix annoying things

TikTok, Instagram, and a thousand self-help books push the idea that making big changes will fix your life. Organize your closets! Declutter your sock drawer! Do a juice cleanse!

They might be right. I wouldn’t know. I don’t have the time, energy, or money in my busy life to spend $800 on matching closet storage boxes. What I do have is the capacity to notice small things that annoy me and make them go away.

My thumb used to get sore when I spent too much time on my laptop. Not bad, just enough to be annoying at the end of the day. I spent three minutes figuring out what I was doing that was making it hurt (stretching too far because I wasn’t using both the left and right function keys). Two days of practice and I had broken that habit and eliminated the pain. Forever. Two minutes that were well spent.

I was annoyed when I went into my department’s one-toilet bathroom, people would keep trying the door because they couldn’t tell anyone was in there. I asked the department to install a new latch that read: Occupied. I was never bothered again.

I get frustrated by some software features that seem to take a lot more mouse clicks or menu pull-downs to do than they should. Look up a keyboard shortcut once and you never have to be annoyed by it again.

Each change is small, but they add up. Annoyance is telling you something isn’t right. Fix it.

Do a little extra

It seems to me that for most tasks, 40 percent of your time is spent getting started, 40 percent of your time is doing that last fussy finish work, and 20 percent is spent doing the bulk of the work. (Your mileage may vary.)

I am not a perfectionist. I am definitely not a clean freak. But I do find that a clean home makes me feel calmer and less stressed. Starting a cleaning job is a big barrier for me.

Today, I made bread. While making some tea afterward, I decided to take the extra step of wiping down the mixer when I finished. I did not spend the time going over all the crevices in the machine to get rid of accumulated schmutz that appliances tend to acquire (see above: 40 percent of the time on that last 5 percent). But I did spend an extra minute wiping off some older gunk that had been left from holiday baking. The additional time and effort was small. The overall effect made me happy. And if I do it again next time I use the mixer (tomorrow), I’ll move closer and closer to having a spotless clean mixer that’s nicely maintained. Same when I wipe down my sink or clean my microwave. It’s hard to get started. I don’t have the patience to do a perfect job. But doing a little bit extra when I already have a sponge in my hand? It adds up over time.

Same thing with opening cabinet doors or dresser drawers. Take the time to close them. It takes just a second and it makes everything look better. Your house will never look tidy with drawers and doors askew.

Bottom line: The hardest part of any project is getting started. Spend a little more time than it takes to get the bulk of the work done and you’ll be a long way towards perfect for a lot less effort. Over time, you may get there yet!

Do small favors

We live in a time of information overload. I get a couple of emails a week with job and internship opportunities for my students. I read the paper and come across interesting articles about science, statistics, cooking, and dog training. My first thought: Oh, this person would love to see this. I often pass the information on to someone who might like it. Sometimes they don’t care. Sometimes they look into it. Sometimes it changes their life. They are almost always pleased someone thought of them. It’s electronic, if they aren’t interested, they don’t even have to throw it away.

Or you hear of something that is a big deal for someone else and would take little for you to try to help. A referral. A recommendation. A few minutes pointing them in the right direction.

These are win-win situations. A great deal of research has shown that altruism and helping others improve our well-being and knit us together as communities. It makes us feel less lonely in a time of increasing isolation. I do a lot of volunteer work. I like it, but it takes a big chunk of time. But these small favors that help a lot of people a little bit? They’re like scattering seeds. You never know what will make a difference, but over time, some of them grow.

Habit Formation Essential Reads

How Your Environment Shapes Your Habits

5 Ways to Establish New Habits

Habits are like that.