Peace of Mind Organizing

The magic of linking new routines to old

7 January 2011

On New Year’s Eve day, the weather was unseasonably warm here in St. Louis (so warm we had a tornado!). At the risk of being indelicate, I’ll share that I spent some pre-storm time picking up the dog poop in our back yard. The snow had melted, revealing many piles.

As I performed this unsavory task, I vowed not to let so much time elapse between clean-up sessions. This is truly the kind of task made worse by volume. My problem was that I would be reminded to do it when I was walking to the garage to get in the car. I never seemed to think of doing it when I actually had time for the task.

But then inspiration hit. I thought about the other tasks I do daily that have made my life easier. I empty the dishwasher each morning as I’m making coffee. I wipe down the fixtures in the bathroom after I finish flossing daily. Maybe I could link poop scooping with another daily task. Then I wouldn’t forget to do it.

I came up with a brilliant plan (if I do say so myself). I walk my dog, Kirby, every morning. And I take poop bags with me. So I decided to link the daily walk with the yard clean up. Now, we come home from a walk and while I still have my coat on, I go right to the back yard and scoop. It’s just one days worth of waste so it takes almost no time. I go out the back gate to the dumpster in the alley, throw away the bag, and I’m done.

I upped the ante a little by adding scooping the litter box to the mix. On my way through the house to the back yard, I stop at the Joe’s litter box and empty the compartment into a poop bag (we have a Littermaid litter box that automatically rakes itself into a compartment that should be emptied daily). I proceed with the cat waste to the back yard, add dog waste and throw it away.

It takes less than five minutes. Today is Day Six and I haven’t forgotten yet. If I keep it up I’ll never have to face the nasty task I faced on December 31.

I think this technique of linking a new routine to something you’re already doing daily can be really effective. Add accountability (I created a habitforge chain for this task, for extra satisfaction), and it can be very powerful.

If you have a New Year’s Resolution that involves daily activity, perhaps you can see if you can link it something you do every day anyway. Let me know if it works!

Tagged with: pets, routines

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