12 mo. ago • 97%

What's a seemingly harmless habit of yours that you struggle to break?

91 comments

I tend say "I mean..." before saying things. No one has ever pointed it out. but I'm very aware of it and catch myself doing it all the time. Sometimes 2-3 times in a discussion.

32
- I mean... 🤣
  
  13
  
  You nice. I mean.
  
  4
- Dang, I do that too
  
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Staying up late. It's not harmless.

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- I used to do that. Now, I loooove getting in my bed and cutting out the light and it’s “night night”!
  
  6
- Same. I will potter around until 5 or 6 am and then hate myself as I have a meeting in the morning that I will either need to drag myself out of bed for or sleep until lunchtime and lose half the productive day.
  
  3
Biting my nails and the skin around my nails. Currently trying to quit again. On day 6.

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- You're doing great. What helped me quit when I was a teenager was to always know where my nail clippers were, and have fast access to them. So whenever I had an urge due to an uneven nail edge, I'd just smooth it out with clippers or a nail file. Really made it simple to quit.
  
  5
  
  That's how I've done it in the past. I keep nail clippers in my pocket all day. Thanks for the tip though.
  
  0
- What helped me quit was a manicure. Spending $40+ on my nails helped me not want to bite them. By the time the gel chipped off, I broke the habit, so I didn’t go back. I still pick off hangnails and the uneven structure, but having a file next to my desk at all times helps with that. I also have a cheat nail where I mess it up if I need to.
  
  2
- I used to do it, what helped me break it was keeping a rubber band on my wrist and every time id bite, id snap my self with the rubber band, took ~1.5 weeks for me to stop
  
  2
  
  But what if I'm a masochist?
  
  0
- Keep it up !! Id really like to be able to quit too
  
  1
R̶e̶d̶d̶i̶t̶ Lemmy

24
- Same
  
  0
Reading.

Hear me out! I have always been an avid reader, get very sucked into plots. I got diagnosed with ADHD in June. Since I've been medicated I've read $15,000 worth of library books. A little of that amount was before June, but most has been since then.

I will walk around the house making food while reading. If I am doing something that requires my hands then it's a podcast or audiobook. This all being said a lot has been manga or graphic novels but there have been days when I read 10+ books.

Probably doesn't sound like the worst problem but it's something that has started to impact my life in ways I did not expect.

Thanks for reading!

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- I haven't done the math on "value" read, but I do 15-20 hours of audiobook (because 2x speed) on work days. It definitely can make finding new reads a challenge.
  
  8
  
  some libraries include that fun little stat on your slips.
  
  5
- You could try set a countdown on your phone to snap you out of it after an hour or so.
  
  4
  
  I have tried several different ways, and I will try the alarm again since you've suggested it - thank you by the way - but I often get laser focused in such a way that I don't hear my partner speaking when he's beside me on the couch.
  
  1
- I've been sucked into a depression fueled reading hole where I just read and lay in bed for several days. What's weird though is after a couple of days I start to narrate my dreams and if long enough it begins to make its way into my waking life?
  
  Ever experienced anything like this?
  
  4
  
  Whoa I have not but that sounds intense. You should try blowing stuff up with your mind.
  
  1
- How do people like you find the time to work?
  
  2
  
  I'm on disability and cannot. But thanks.
  
  2
Late night snacking

Waking up feeling slightly sick has been the norm for me for the past 5+ years

19
- I regularly eat right before bed and I don't have this, in fact if I don't do it I wake up really hungry. It's still a bad habit on my part. Maybe something else at work?
  
  2
- Sounds awful. Do you know what causes it? Otherwise this might not be in your control. Worth seeing a holistic therapist to find the root cause and hopefully feel better.
  
  -2
Learning a new hobby right after getting partway through another one

18
Biting my nails. Been doing it for as long as I can remember. I think I stopped once but went back to it as soon as I realized I stopped.

17
- Oh I can relate with this. I've recently managed to stop (hopefully for good) for the silliest of reasons. I want nice long nails.
  I know it sounds silly, but I've switched from biting my nails to running my finger tip along one of my nails instead. I admire how nice they feel and it somehow takes the biting impulse away.
  One thing I do need to do is an almost daily filing to keep them completely smooth. I know that I'll resume biting if I find an irregularity or a jagged edge.
  
  3
  
  deleted
  
  2
- There is invisible nail polish that works well.
  
  It makes nails taste horrible, and you will be reminded even if you bite your nails absent-mindedly.
  
  Should give it a try if you really want to stop.
  
  3
- I have the same problem, except I'll sometimes end up chewing them so much that one finger will bleed in-between the finger and nail on the side. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have dried blood under one of my fingernails.
  
  3
  
  I used be a an absolute fiend for biting my nails. What fixed it was buying a little Swiss army knife nail set. It's got a wee little nail clippers and file. It fulfilled the need for nervous movement.
  
  2
  
  Friend of mine solved this by using a sort of nail polish that tastes super bitter. Got her to keep her fingers out of her mouth.
  
  1
- Same here, did it for about 3years and decided to stop when I saw the conditions of my nails.
  
  1
I can't stop buying Chia pets. They can't stop making new designs. Send help.

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Biting/Knawing/Anxiety picking at my lips and fingers, it's not fun

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Turns out Lemmy is pretty wholesome according to this thread :P

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- To be fair, they specifically asked for harmless habits!
  
  Mine is I can't resist being contrary/devil's advocate...
  
  6
  
  Someone has to be!
  
  2
Breathing.

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- You're struggling to break that habit?
  
  3
  
  Yes.
  
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Eating sweets.
Doesnt kill me (yet).

9
Forgetting time, space and everything else while I write code.

Not that I've almost set the kitchen on fire before by forgetting the pizza in the oven while writing "this one little function".

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- I'm curious as to what you program/work in. I'm the same way when I'm invested into a configuration/template (I work with the cloud)
  
  2
  
  It doesn't really matter for me what it is, as long as it is a project I'm working on xD
  
  I think at the time I was migrating a discord bot I to use PostgreSQL - or setting up auto backups for it.
  
  1
- When I'm baking bread, I have to set timers for myself to make sure it doesn't overproof or burn in the oven.
  
  The feeling is wild. I sit down, set a timer for 1-2 hrs, start work, and with the snap of a finger I'm torn out of my zone by my alarm sound.
  
  1
I tend to start sentences with "So," in emails and that just doesn't seem professional.

8
I love caffeine, but it messes me up bad. Absolutely debilitating headaches. I'll go six months or something without, and then relapse until I get woken up by a jackhammer in my skull and give it up again. Sigh. I don't understand the studies that actually suggest it's good for you.

7
- I have occasionally tried giving up caffeine, and once the initial withdrawal headache passed, all that happened for me was more migraines (even after several months without it) and about 3 lb of weight increase. Daily caffeine does help me to prevent headaches.
  
  3
  
  Funny how caffeine for me causes headaches, and for you prevents them. I used to get bad migraines (the throwing-up-painful kind) when I was young. I wonder if that has something to do with it.
  
  2
  
  Whoa, I find it weird that people get withdrawal symptoms. I drink too much of it every day and I've never had so much a slight headache from quitting cold-turkey.
  
  1
- that doesnt seem harmless.
  
  2
  
  It sounds like a rare reaction. Some people are allergic to water but you wouldn't say, "that doesn't sound harmless."
  
  2
- Maybe the diuretic nature (u pee more) gives you a headache. Next relapse, drink a glass of water or three.
  
  1
  
  I thought that too. It doesn't seem to help. At least not quick enough.
  
  3
If it was harmless, why would I care to break it?

If you strive to break a habit, it likely is because it has done harm, no?

7
- https://lemmy.ca/comment/5299611
  
  Doesnt harm/kill OP, but OP wants to quit anyway.
  
  4
  
  They have identified that the habit is harmful. Not all harm is associated with pain or injury. You can cause a person practical/emotional/financial harm, and those are still forms of harm.
  
  1
- It says seemingly harmless
  
  3
  
  ... ok? But if it seemed to be harmless then why would you try to break it?
  
  -1
Caffeine. For the love of god, why isn't this drug ~~legalized~~ legislated like Alcohol and Nicotine is?!

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- I get a headache if it is late enough in the morning and I haven't had caffeine yet. I get a headache if I have too much caffeine.
  
  6
laughing a stupid little laugh after I'm done talking. probably comes off as nervous and awkward. I hate it.

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Whenever I'm typing and there's a character limit, if I'm closer to the limit than I am to having zero characters, I try to fill the limit with precision even if I don't need to.

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For some reason I can't seem to stop shaking a bottle of water first before taking a sip out of it

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- I stopped that by taking the cap off while I pick it up.
  
  1
Listening to Brain Cheney.

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I use "just" a lot

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