Strategies to Build or Eliminate Habitual Behavior

Strategy 4: Scheduling

As teachers, parents, or individuals, we know a schedule can be very important! Making time for some activities versus others can definitely influence our habits. The way we schedule our day can influence our flow of behavior.

If there are a lot of activities that are hard for you or someone else to do, make sure you schedule in breaks or easy/fun tasks between difficult tasks to make you more likely to tackle that schedule.

As teachers, if we notice a student or multiple students are struggling to maintain focus at certain point in the daily schedule of activities, you may want to have a few flex moments to: -Give students a break to move -Think about something else for a minute -Try a task a different way.

A teacher may find that doing two blocks of math even if they are different ways or in a different classroom may be stressing students out, so you might switch it up and put a language arts block, individual work on a computer app or a silent reading block in the schedule to reduce their stress so they can focus better when they return to math.

As a parent, you may find your kiddos have a lot of energy at specific times during the day that lead them to a habit of throwing tantrums, destroying things in your house, or hitting you or their siblings. A trip to the park, a walk around the block or just sending them outside to play at that time can help prevent the formation of that bad habit.

Bad behavior could be happening because your child is hungry, thirsty, or needing the bathroom. It could be important to schedule a snack time or make sure they take a break from an activity they are reluctant to leave to use the bathroom.

Sources: EmpowerU Building Resilience Education Gretchenrubin.com  Nickwignall.com