Ingrained Habits

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TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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Ingrained Habits

Is there anything that you do that you know is a particular habit that you do either consciously or unconsciously?

Could be locking and unlocking the door more than once on leaving the house to ensure its definitely locked.
Could be always reversing into a parking spot as opposed to driving in.
Could be always leafing through the pile of stacked news papers to get the 2nd or 3rd one as opposed to the uppermost one...


So anything you do that you do as a habit ?


( I may do all three of those or none at all.... for the moment lets just treat them as examples.. )
 
When I go on a holiday trip, all dressed and about to go out the door, allways take a final check that everything is turned off that needs to be turned off.

Everytime I go outside my apartmen, all dressed up with outercclothing and all on, I allways have to take a look in the mirror how I look. Sort of a compulsion, I guess. A very mild one.
 
When I go on a holiday trip, all dressed and about to go out the door, allways take a final check that everything is turned off that needs to be turned off.

Everytime I go outside my apartmen, all dressed up with outercclothing and all on, I allways have to take a look in the mirror how I look. Sort of a compulsion, I guess. A very mild one.

That reminded me - if I'm staying somewhere new , as soon as leave the accommodation - after a short stroll I take a look back and see if I can see the biggest most prominent landmark , sign or unique feature just so when later on it comes back to returning I have a point of reference to head towards.
 
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That reminded me - if I'm staying somewhere new , as soon as leave the accommodation - after a short stroll I take a look back and see if I can see the biggest most prominent landmark , sign or unique feature just so when later on it comes back to returning I have a point of reference to head towards.
As someone who's geographically challenged, that's definitely a habit I ought to adopt.

I'm also guilty of 2nd or 3rd in the newspaper pile grabbing.

Before I shut the door to my home, I jingle my keys in my pocket to avoid any potential lock out.
 
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Ingrained Habits

Is there anything that you do that you know is a particular habit that you do either consciously or unconsciously?

Could be locking and unlocking the door more than once on leaving the house to ensure its definitely locked.
Could be always reversing into a parking spot as opposed to driving in.
Could be always leafing through the pile of stacked news papers to get the 2nd or 3rd one as opposed to the uppermost one...


So anything you do that you do as a habit ?


( I may do all three of those or none at all.... for the moment lets just treat them as examples.. )
Yes. I have a VERY bad habit of lowering my archery bow before the shot had impacted. The solution to this has been to pin a sign above my target saying HOLD THE SHOT. works a treat.
 
Ingrained Habits

Is there anything that you do that you know is a particular habit that you do either consciously or unconsciously?

Could be locking and unlocking the door more than once on leaving the house to ensure its definitely locked.
Could be always reversing into a parking spot as opposed to driving in.
Could be always leafing through the pile of stacked news papers to get the 2nd or 3rd one as opposed to the uppermost one...


So anything you do that you do as a habit ?


( I may do all three of those or none at all.... for the moment lets just treat them as examples.. )

I do the second two, the first one I always check the handles of doors before I leave or before I go to bed just to make sure the door is indeed locked.

I'd say it's ingrained now that I finish my morning showers on the coldest setting available. At home that is very cold indeed, but if I'm staying somewhere and the lowest temperature is merely 'cool', I feel a bit disappointed. I'd say it took 6 months for this to be a habit that I'd start to miss if I stopped it.

Always check any buttoned/zipped pockets are fastened before I start moving.

Always sleep with a window slightly open, I think I got scared of the risk of carbon monoxide as a kid.

When doing anything with firearms I regularly (and perhaps obsessively) check the safety is enabled even when I know I did it recently. Similarly when I have unloaded a magazine fed firearm, I physically swipe my hand over the magazine housing even if I only have one magazine and I can see it right next to me. I have even caught myself doing this when it's not a magazine fed rifle.

Always use a bit of saliva to fully douse the wick of a candle even when it's clearly stopped smoking/glowing.

When travelling I probably check my passport is there every hour or so, again this is more obsessive than it probably should be.

Brush my teeth twice a day. I don't feel like I've woken up properly until I've done that in the morning.
 
Checking that fires are out even when I know that they are. I do it for the grate in my front room, camp fires and Kelly Kettle, even candles. I may check three or four times around my lathe if things get smoky though I’ve never had a spark never mind a fire.


Edited add:
Tapping the mobile phone through my leg pocket to check that it’s still there.
 
As someone who's geographically challenged, that's definitely a habit I ought to adopt.

I'm also guilty of 2nd or 3rd in the newspaper pile grabbing.

Before I shut the door to my home, I jingle my keys in my pocket to avoid any potential lock out.
To be honest even in BIG car parks its a useful habit to get into.
Or at least try to remember to eye check the multi story level or Letter/Number reference closest to where you've parked.

Its so easy to be in a rush or excited / amped to drive to somewhere new ( for a show, gig or Opera lovey.. ) that rushing away once parked without doing a little 60 second situational check is an easy score against oneself.

I've spent some time running between storeys to try and find my car.
 
We all have habits and I bet most we do not eveen realise are habits. I realised that I had habit of always keeping house keys, wallet and phone in their own unique location in the house. I also notice that when on holiday I give them all appropriate locations in the room, tent, van or other.

I did not realise these were habits until a few self aware moments. One was when I went ballistic because my partner had taken my key and not put it back. The other was when I realised I had ADHD and looking at my life started to notice habits that I had naturally developed to cope. I have set places for things that are probably essential for modern, day to day life that can be easily lost or misplaced. Things like keys, phone, wallet, etc. Because of these survival habits I have never lost any of them (except when others have lost them of course) and I have never left keys in locks. A common event as kids when my older sister used to lock the front door and walk off with the keys left in the lock. My partner has done that but I have not. If you have ADHD and are coping well then it is highly likely that you have some habits like these that compensates for the issues of ADHD.

PS I think this is the first time on here I have mentioned my ADHD, a big step in accepting it I reckon and I doubt that I am the only one on here with it. I chose to mention it because habits are essential for me with ADHD. I know just how long they can take to fully embed. I have read that a strong habit takes something like 6 months to fully embed. I suspect a few of mine took longer but I am glad they did stick.
 
This ^^^^^^^ (car park locations)
Even more so when you’re picking someone up from an airport short stay car park. Minutes can cost pounds and for once W3W might not help in a concrete multi-storey.
 
I always either reverse into parking spots or drive through from one bay to the one on the other side which amounts to the same thing.
I'm in a van and would rather reverse into a quiet area than reverse out into potential traffic/people. Visibility isn't as good as reversing a car and it's got a big tailgate that I don't want other vehicles to damage.
Some workplaces insist on this type of parking for the safety of the workers.
I also always give the gear lever a waggle before I start the engine to make sure its not in gear.
I check to make sure my cards in my wallet before I start to fill the tank.
I check my pockets for keys before I walk out the door.

All makes perfect sense in my head anyway.
 
I always either reverse into parking spots or drive through from one bay to the one on the other side which amounts to the same thing.
I'm in a van and would rather reverse into a quiet area than reverse out into potential traffic/people. Visibility isn't as good as reversing a car and it's got a big tailgate that I don't want other vehicles to damage.
Some workplaces insist on this type of parking for the safety of the workers.
I also always give the gear lever a waggle before I start the engine to make sure its not in gear.
I check to make sure my cards in my wallet before I start to fill the tank.
I check my pockets for keys before I walk out the door.

All makes perfect sense in my head anyway.

I still don't understand why we seem to insist have car parking at 90° to the main driving route. If car parking slots were at 45° I'm sure there would be less scrapes , dings and fender/benders upon reversing out.

And surely 90° or 45° will all pretty much use the same amount of physical space.
Love seeing the older drivers and less calm drive in and out of car parking slots. - Car park roulette - will I get car dinged today??
 
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And surely 90° or 45° will all pretty much use the same amount of physical space.
Love seeing the older drivers and less calm drive in and out of car parking slots. - Car park roulette - will I get car dinged today??

Yep, that's why I take the Defender shopping!

There comes a time in life when whatever isn't habit risks not being done.
Button, zip, belt, every time :)
 
Yep, that's why I take the Defender shopping!

There comes a time in life when whatever isn't habit risks not being done.
Button, zip, belt, every time :)
My current car is equipped with 360 degree cameras, and it needs them as it covers about the same space on he ground as a Defender, maybe a bit wider. Oh back in the day when I drove a series, how did I ever manage to park it?
 

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