It’s not surprising says Orion Partners’ Jan Hills. January and February can be depressing months. And even if they weren’t, changing the way you’ve been doing things for years is easier said than done.

That’s why I was particularly interested to read an article written by Woods and Neal from Duke University all about their research into habits and how to go about changing them.

They start by explaining how important habits are to our lives, stating that ‘most of the time what we do is what we do most of the time’. Woods and Neal go so far as to say that roughly 45% of what we do in a day is habitual; repeated in the same location and at the same time. If you find this percentage surprising - like I did - start thinking about your morning and evening routine – not to mention what you do at work. It soon adds up.

But how do you change a habit when it starts to be a hindrance rather than a help? And how do you get a new habit to stick? Three suggestions Woods and Neal give in their article struck me as particularly useful:

Reframe the goal

What does this mean in a work context? Rather than thinking ‘from now on I’m going to stop working late all the time’, say ‘from now on I’m going to bath my kids, three days out of five’. Or rather than saying ‘this year I’m going to get fit’, say ‘this year I’m going to learn what it feels like to cross the finishing line of the Great North Run’. Then work backwards to develop new habits that get you to this goal.

Change the ‘cues’

Habits are triggered by cues. Changing these will help make or break a habit. For example, if you always try to do your time-sheets on a Friday afternoon, but never get round to it, then don’t keep trying (and failing); instead, change the time you block out for it (the cue). Try a Monday morning, or a Wednesday lunchtime – keep experimenting until you find a time when habitually you’re less busy and you can fit it in.

Develop a new habit

It is more productive to develop a new habit than to try really hard to stop an old one. As research points out, the more we focus on something, the more we want to do it. So putting your energy into creating new behaviour is more productive and more likely to be successful.

One last thing from Woods and Neal – it’s generally acknowledged that a new habit takes 30 days to form, so keep at it!


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