Have you ever thought about why you do the things that you do? Turns out most of what we do is a force of habit, not us giving any concious thought to it.

Studies have revealed that as much as 45 percent of what we do every day is habitual — that is, performed almost without thinking in the same location or at the same time each day, usually because of subtle cues.

For example, the urge to check e-mail or to grab a cookie is likely a habit with a specific prompt. Researchers found that most cues fall into four broad categories: a specific location or time of day, a certain series of actions, particular moods, or the company of specific people. The e-mail urge, for instance, probably occurs after you’ve finished reading a document or completed a certain kind of task. The cookie grab probably occurs when you’re walking out of the cafeteria, or feeling sluggish or blue.

Our capacity to develop such habits is an invaluable evolutionary advantage. But when they run amok, things can become tricky.

This from a fascinating article in NYTimes about how one woman turned to advertisers to try and instill better habits in the African country she worked in. Diseases and disorders caused by dirty hands — like diarrhea — kill a child somewhere in the world about every 15 seconds, and about half those deaths could be prevented with the regular use of soap. Unfortunately where she was working, people did not use soap.

And so Dr Curtis examined what advertisers do to cue people into having better habits. And thus started a large campaign of trying to get people to associate using the restroom as something disgusting.  The campaign was two fold, the other component being the natural protective insitincts of parentswanting to protect their children from something disgusting.  By the end of the campaign the handwashing habit had increased by 41%.

How does this relate to our children?

I have read somehwere that it takes six weeks to form a habit. Six weeks of doing something consistently to make it bcome a habit.

So as we encourage our kids to remember to dotheir chores, put away theirshoes, clean up their rooms, etc, we should also remember to try and make it consistant.  If we have them do the same tasks at the same time every single day, it will become a habit. Walk in the door after school and instead of dropping their bags and shoes right in front of the door, start a new habit of walking right to the closet.

I know, easier said than done. But if it works for a woman trying to save children from preventable diseases, it surely canwork for us with our children and doing their homework.