Reading “Atomic Habits” ruined my kids life…or so they would tell you. I recently finished reading the book. As a mom who is always juggling ALL THE THINGS, I was inspired. I decided to let some of those things go and place them into my kids’ hands. Here’s what I learned and what I am doing differently now.
One of James Clear’s ideas that he talks about in his book is habit stacking. The idea is that you add a habit onto a cue of something you are already doing every day. The most obvious cue for the kids and me is eating a meal. We eat three meals a day at home most days, and that seemed like a great place to start.
Another concept he discusses in the book is priming your environment. I call it “thanking my future self,” and it’s quite simple. Do what needs to be done in the future NOW. Prepare a space, finish a task, set out the things you will need…you get the idea. Most people do it already without thinking about it. Have you ever packed a lunch for work? Or made sure there was a towel in the bathroom before hopping in the shower? Then you are already priming your environment.
The last concept I used to ruin my kids’ lives is to have an easy entry point for a habit. You want to start with a task that is simple. It should not require mom’s assistance. It should give them some level of satisfaction…even if it comes with an eye roll. The point is to master showing up. That’s it. Show up for the task. Once the task is done, it will be much easier to continue to make good choices.
So, armed with these three hacks, I have set up a very simple, straightforward chore chart for my 7 and 11-year-old children. They happen three times a day, after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The morning tasks are easy entry points. First, make your bed. Then do something more substantial but simple. You can put clean dishes away or check the pet food dish. After lunch, the second cue of the day, they each have one simple task. They might put laundry away or clean their room. And finally, after dinner, they wipe down their place. They put their stool up on the counter for the night. They tidy up anything left out on the floor. This serves dual purposes. We have a Shark vacuum robot (we call him Ned) that runs each night, so floors need to be picked up in order for him to run. Also, we are priming our entire house for a smooth start the next morning. No rouge LEGOs in the living room rug to ruin your perfectly good morning.
If you want to give it a try as well, I have attached a free printable chore chart outline. This could be used for children or adults and easily integrated into anyone’s day.
-Nicole 👋
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