A habit is a pattern of daily behaviors that can have a detrimental effect on your physical and mental health. In both negative and positive ways, habits play a crucial role in our daily lives and help to shape our lifestyle.
So what bad behaviors are there for your body? People often battle with the tendency to procrastinate. The act of delaying or postponing important activities is referred to as procrastinating. According to research, 20% of adults and about 50% of college students regularly put off doing their work. Researchers at Princeton University say that institutions where students are constantly evaluated, can worsen procrastination. In truth, procrastination is commonly utilized by individuals as a method of self-preservation. Our fear of failure and losing control are the fundamental reasons why we postpone tasks. Knowing the reasons behind why you procrastinate and how it affects your daily tasks will help you avoid it.
Perfectionism is another habit that is very common among people. While this can be helpful to push you to do your best, it can also cause stress on your mental health. If something is not according to your standards, you can often only see mistakes and errors in simple things and not appreciate things that are done well. The habit of being a perfectionist takes a toll on many people’s mental health since making mistakes can be seen as a sign of being unworthy. Being a perfectionist can mean feeling discontent with anything that doesn’t seem to be perfect. It’s important not to be a perfectionist in everything in order to avoid unhealthy stress from the will to be perfect at everything you do.
Both good and poor behaviors can affect your life, so maintaining a level of personal challenge is essential for developing your capacity, performance, and understanding. If done correctly, pushing yourself can lead to happiness, success, and contentment. A task may feel overwhelming if it becomes too complicated, which encourages the use of procrastination. Up to a point, challenges have many positive benefits on your health. First of all, being challenged gives you satisfaction while overcoming obstacles, and it helps you increase your stamina for concentration. Challenges can also help your personal growth. Every time you overcome a struggle, your confidence increases by knowing you have conquered your barriers and your skills expand. Once you challenge yourself, your comfort zone extends, and this makes you more open to other activities. Challenging yourself and your mind helps you grow so much as a human and from that, you can obtain freedom, relaxation, self-confidence, and fulfillment.
The night before a big test is typically when you’re told to get a good night’s sleep. However, in reality, your body needs a good night’s sleep every single day. Getting enough sleep and rest is vital for your overall health as well as for your mind and body. By getting enough rest, you can boost your focus, cognition, and other skills, like your attention span. Research shows that getting enough sleep can increase accuracy in academic performance and can improve long-term memory and problem-solving skills. A satisfactory amount of rest can provide for a strong immune system. Therefore, getting a minimum of 7 hours of sleep can improve the functionality of your immune system, which in turn can help you easily fight off a cold. Additionally, studies present the idea that resting can allow athletic skills and performance to be enhanced. A lack of sleep can expose you to health issues such as depression, increased inflammation, reduced social skills, and your ability to focus. A good night’s sleep benefits us in physical and mental ways.
Habits are a big part of how we live our lives, and each person has their own set of unhealthy habits and healthy habits, which determine the state of their mental and physical health.
Works Cited:
- Leech, Joe. 2022. “10 Reasons Why Good Sleep Is Important.” Healthline. January 6, 2022. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-reasons-why-good-sleep-is-important.
- “Medium.” n.d. Medium. Accessed July 26, 2023. https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/3-reasons-why-you-want-to.
- “7 Healthy Habits for a Healthy Life.” 2017. Living Magazine. September 27, 2017. https://www.livingmagazine.net/7-healthy-habits-healthy-life/.
- Calechman, Steve. 2022. “How to Break a Bad Habit.” Harvard Health. May 2, 2022. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-break-a-bad-habit-202205022736.
- “The Ten Worst Habits for Your Mental Health | CareersinPsychology.org.” 2014. Careersinpsychology.org. 2014. https://careersinpsychology.org/ten-worst-habits-mental-health/.
