I stopped at the store last night to pick up a few things, and what I thought would take just  two minutes took fifteen because of having to sort through the fifty brands and options of each item.  Who knew there could be so many choices in just buying tangerines and beans?  Our lives are so busy and full of constant competing demands that sometimes our exhaustion at the end of the day is simply from the number of choices we have to make.  It is no wonder that research shows that in order to be successful in sticking to a routine or enacting a new one, simplicity is a key.

President Obama, in making his transition to leader of the free world, decided he would only wear two colors of suits, blue and gray.  According to the President, “I’m trying to pare down decisions.  I don’t want to make too many decisions about what I’m eating or wearing because I have too many decisions to make.”

So when we think about adding in a new behavior that we know will be good for us, how do we make it simple enough not to add to our overwhelm?  One technique is the “add on” technique, which is a way to link a new behavior to one you already do, starting small and building up to the goal desired.

Let’s say I decide I want to start doing some strength exercises, but I keep forgetting or avoiding them.  The first step is to decide what point in my day would be best to build it in.  I decide it would be good in the morning before I get dressed, because my schedule gets out of control and I am tired at the end of the day.  Also, I like the feeling of having done something I feel good about before I leave the house.  Next, I decide just one exercise I would like to do.  I am going to start with push ups.  Now, I link it to a behavior I already do each morning.  For me, I alway go to my dresser when I get dressed in the morning, so I put my push up bars in front of my dresser.  This way, each morning when I go to get dressed, there is a cue there to remind me to do my push ups.

I need to start small, which is fortunate, because I can only do a few.  It only takes a minute or two and is something I can do.  After I get used to doing these push ups, I plan to add one more.  Then I’ll add one more, until I reach my goal of 20.  Then, when I have built in my push up attempt routine, I can add a few sit ups.  Then I can alter my days with a few squats.  The point is to take a behavior that is already a part of my routine and link something very small and manageable to add to it.

Another example would be flossing your teeth. Choose the time of day you already regularly brush your teeth and would feel best about adding it in, like the evening.  Now, when you put your toothbrush away in the morning, just pull a short string of floss out and wrap it around your tooth brush. This will cue you to floss when you take out your toothbrush in the evening.  Then, start with just a few teeth, like your molars.  Then add on a few more as you become used to laying out your floss and flossing your molars.  Over time, you will build up to flossing your teeth and it will become your new habit.

The Add On Technique involves the qualities of behavior change that have proven to bring success, or what is known as the 3 R’s.  It involves a Reminder and a Routine.  The third R is Reward.  So make sure after you reach a goal, for me it will be 20 push ups, to add in a Reward!  And while everything else is simple, perhaps this is the area we can have a little fun. While doing my push ups I can dream about what I will do when I hit my goal.  As of now, I am at six full push ups (with the other 14 on my knees), so I think I have some time…