h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Managing Your Habits - A1131571
Author: Mystic Martin - U233989

Habit breaking and forming within 28 days

Sounds fascinating - thing is we'll now have to wait 28 days to see if it works.

If you follow the process slavishly for the time period, it will work. Try it and see!

I'll have a go for nail biting......

Do. Let me know when you're thinking of starting and I'll encourage you. (Everyone needs a little support now and then!)

Started tonight, before I came into work.

Excellent! Try and do it again at work if you are able to.

Been very busy, but still trying to maintain this. Was going well until I caught a nail doing some DIY and automatically popped it in my gob -Damn.

Still carrying on........

You're doing very well. Hold a conversation with your character at the station, allow them to encourage and congratulate you. All this reinforces your subconscious. It's been six days now since you started, look at it this way, you're almost a quarter of the way there!

Did it work, McKay?

I would like to know as well.

Firstly many apologies, it was my intention to return to this fairly regularly and update it with my experiences, set backs, successes, and observations. Alas I have been snowed under both at work and at home and my online time has been very limitied, and usually taken in 10 minute snatches.



I started by picturing a train pulling into my home town station, for reasons best known to my psyche and a barrage of consultant psychiatric staff, the train was a steam train, with those old single compartment coaches. The old man looked rather like David Kossof, but with more hair. He wore a homberg, an overccoat, and a white silk scarf. The overcoat was buttoned and his shoes were highly polished.

I sat down and talked to him about my nail-biting, showed him my nails, and explained why I wanted to stop. He said this was a good thing to do and that he would take this habit away from me. I didn't really parcel anything up, but he took my hands in his own, held them by the fingers, and said 'my hands will be holding yours all day. Think of this when you want to bite your nails.'

I don't really know where all this came from, but this was the way the scene played in my mind.

But did you do it every day, McKay, and did it work?

Sorry - w*rk is utterly chaotic at the moment.

So - for the first week I made a point of going through the trip to meet the train each morning before I got out of bed. Apart from falling back to sleep twice, this was quite good, because I was able to clear my mind before anything distracted me. I also made a point of closing my eyes for a couple of minutes when I arrived in the car park at work - for a re-inforcer.

On day 6 I had a bit of a set back, when I caught a nail and without thinking about immediately had it in my mouth, removing the 'rough edges.' For the rest of the day I really struggled, and I think it was bloody-mindedness more than anything that got me through the rest of that day.



As time went on I had good and bad days, on those occasions where I was consiously biting at a nail, then if I could get the quietness to go through the scenario it was successful at reducing the urge. Sometimes though, when immersed in a task, I would find myself nibbling before I was aware of it.



By now I was quite adept at slipping into the railway carriage with the old man (he doesn't have a name) and him being there to grip my hands and reassure me. I tried adding positive re-inforcement, the old guy saying how good my nails were looking, but frankly it didn't work for me. Having a week off work (for DIY not holiday) I decided to have a real blitz on the system, using any quiet moment to go for a mental strengthening session.

After a week I'd had 4 days without biting my nails at all, and I was really chuffed. I'd practically leap into the carriage, be greeted by a huge smile and a nodding head. Then disaster struck.



I broke a tooth - lower left 2.

The problem this created was that I now had a reason to stick my fingers in my mouth. I had this sharp edged tooth, that just had to be played with, and as my tongue was red raw in no time, (you know what its like) I was rubbing my nail on it, or scratching at it to remove the edge, and surprise surprise, biting my nails.

At this point a really weird thing started to happen. I began to find excuses not to undergo the exercise. This probably says a great deal about my attitude towards failure, but I would get out of bed, saying I'd only fall asleep again if I did the exercise now, I'll do it after breakfast, and so on.

Then I'd come to work , and this thread would be in my convo list, so in true procrastinator fashion I leapt into all the other tasks that needed sorting. I suppose I thought I would be able to come back after a couple of weeks and pretend everything was OK. And I did think about it.

That, however, is not where it ends.....

Please continue...I'm all agog.

You seem to be able to visualise very well, the detail and emotional touches you put into the old man were very clearly defined, this is excellent. Obviously though, by neglecting the exercise on a daily basis, you undo all, or at least most of your previous good work.

The trick is to keep it up daily for 28 days, then it becomes ingrained in your psyche, and the habit alters thereafter automatically.

OK apologies again for the long break - but I'm somewhat overwhelmed at the moment.

I decided the only way was to start again, however I then mucked and messed about rather than start again, and it wasn't until I was off work for a week that I actually re-started properly.

I now decided that routine was essential, and therefore made this a nightly exercise before I went to sleep.

The actual visits to the old man followed pretty much the same routine, and after about 7 days I was once more bite free.

The problem I found was that nails are always with us, and thus when distracted, they were in my mouth before my consiousness could interfere. I did however succeed in growing my nails considerably, and by using this exercise I have stopped 'worrying' at my nails.

I think this could be very useful for stopping smoking or something similar, where there is a consious action that has to be taken to start the habit.

Anyway, now my problem is how do I keep my nails clean ? They seem to always have dirt under them.

perhaps you could begin by visualising a little man with a nailbrush arriving in a steam train....no no, that's too bizare...