Extra Habit Releasers for Deeper Mindfulness Readers

Choose any one or two of the following each month and explore what it’s like to do them as an experiment, noting its feeling tone:

But first a little story…

Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation, tells a story about how they overcame a series of inexplicable creative blocks while making Toy Story 2, among other films. Ed and his team of creatives regularly met around a long, elegant table crafted by one of Steve Jobs’ favourite designers (Jobs provided the founding capital for Pixar and was a great cheerleader for the company).

‘I grew to hate this table,’ says Ed. ‘It was long and skinny, like one of those things you’d see in a comedy sketch about an old, wealthy couple that sits down for dinner – one person at either end, a candelabra in the middle – and has to shout to make conversation.’

For purely practical reasons, Ed and his director and producer would sit in the middle. The main creative officers would then sit around them and the rest of the team would be seated even further out. To keep the seating organised someone created place cards.

‘When it comes to creative inspiration, job titles and hierarchy are meaningless,’ says Ed.

‘But unwittingly, we were allowing this table – and the resulting place-card ritual – to send a different message. The closer you were seated to the middle of the table, it implied, the more important – the more central – you must be. And the farther away, the less likely you were to speak up – your distance from the heart of the conversation made participating feel intrusive . . . Without intending to, we’d created an obstacle that discouraged people from jumping in.

‘It wasn’t until we happened to have a meeting in a smaller room with a square table that John and I realised what was wrong. Sitting around that table, the interplay was better, the exchange of ideas more free-flowing, the eye contact automatic. Every person there, no matter their job title, felt free to speak up. This was not only what we wanted, it was a fundamental Pixar belief: unhindered communication was key, no matter what your position.’

Shortly after this, one of Pixar’s directors Andrew Stanton went further by randomly allocating seating by mixing up the place cards. That further enhanced the exchange of ideas. The place cards were thrown away soon after, so that everyone could choose for themselves where to sit. 

Ed Catmull had unwittingly created a series of habits that hindered free-flowing creativity. And we all do it every day. Every time you meet at the same place, sit at the same table, in the same chair, you subtly reinforce the web of habits associated with that place. Without realising it, you slip into habitual ways of thinking and approaching problems – a style that hampers creativity and impairs effective decision making.

One day this week, each time you go to a meeting or visit a familiar pub or café with friends, see if you can notice the subtle pull of habits guiding you to a specific table and chair. Try choosing a different one. Is it strangely difficult to do so? Does your mind come up with reasons why you should choose the familiar over the unfamiliar? Thoughts such as, It’s less crowded down that end of the table, or The light’s better over there, or It just feels more comfortable over there might crop up. Such rationales allow habits to thrive, so you can easily lose the personal interplay that drives creativity. Hierarchies can be reinforced and politics can emerge. But simply moving chairs can alter the whole creative dynamic. Try, if you can, changing meeting rooms entirely or hold one in a café, restaurant or pub. The more unfamiliar the environment, the more the old barriers to creativity will break down.

Habit Releasers

Contact an old friend (or distant family member)

The hectic busyness of daily life can make it difficult to stay in day-to-day contact with family and friends. Social media can help, but we are physical, not virtual creatures, so personal contact is still needed if you want to truly thrive. Having wide circle of friends is good for creativity too as it broadens the diversity of opinions and ideas that you are exposed too. Serendipity plays its part too. For these reasons (and out of sheer curiosity), why not phone someone you’ve drifted away from?

The aim of this Habit Releaser is to re-establish contact with someone you’ve drifted away from, rather than consciously severed ties with. You needn’t feel obliged to phone someone you haven’t spoken to for twenty years, although you can do if you want to. If there is someone you’ve been keen to contact for many years – say, an old school or college friend, colleague or former neighbour – but feel a little self-conscious about doing so, then you can first send them an email or social-media ‘friend’ request to test the waters. The precise method you use to arrange a phone call is not that important. You could even write or send a postcard. It might feel a little awkward at first, but this will quickly pass.

If they don’t respond, try to remember that there may be many reasons for this, so don’t automatically assume you’ve been snubbed. They might be too busy to respond immediately (preferring to do so with more thought at a later date) or they may have missed your message entirely or been swept along by other things. Why not try again in a week or two?

Redesign (or mix-up) your workspace

Most people are so familiar with their office, desk or studio that they barely notice it at all. But an overly familiar workspace can steer you down creative blind alleys and progressively fossilise the mind. This is because every object in your life acts as a mental filing cabinet full of triggers for memories and habitual thought patterns. The smell of a lover’s perfume, an old photograph or a holiday souvenir can all transport you instantly to a different time and place. If you have worked in the same place for a while, then virtually everything will have become overlaid with mental triggers that encourage you to think along the same old, familiar lines.

In practice this means that if you want to change the way that you think, you can start by simply changing your environment. And a good place to begin is with your personal workspace. If it is a little untidy and cluttered, then spend fifteen minutes tidying it up. If it’s tidy and ‘minimalist’, then spend the same time rearranging it, so that it’s slightly less ordered. It might be worth bringing in a few books, newspapers or personal mementos to make it less pristine-looking. Change is the key to this exercise: there is no single ‘best’ way of rearranging your world, so simply aim to change it.

It’s important to carry out this exercise mindfully, to pay full conscious attention to what you are doing. For example, if you tidy up a pile of paper, pay attention to what it feels like. Is the paper smooth, crinkly or rough? Thick or thin? Stiff or floppy? What colour is it? Is it deep and lustrous or washed out and pastel? What does it smell like? Musty and old or new and ‘chemically’. What do any books and reports look and smell like? Are they unexpectedly light or heavy? If you tidy up old cups and food wrappings, what do these look, feel and smell like? You might also like to move your desk, computer or phone, or perhaps sit in a different place entirely. The important thing is to change as many of the small things as possible within the fifteen minutes without feeling rushed. 

If you are an extremely ordered person who believes that a tidy mind has a tidy workplace, then avoid clearing up for a day. Simply leave everything where you first put it down. What does it feel like? Where in your body are the urges to tidy up located? In your hands, arms or stomach? Is it annoying or disgusting? Do you feel unclean or slovenly? Or do you, perhaps, feel more relaxed, sanguine or energised?

If any of these tasks triggers memories or urges, simply observe them and the pull they exert for a few moments before returning to what you were doing. Only carry out this Habit Releaser for fifteen minutes. The idea is not to create a pristine environment, or to mess it up, but to experience the process of changing your surroundings and to observe how it alters your approach to your day. You can, of course, repeat this exercise over the coming weeks, but try not to do so at the expense of your meditation practice or the other habit releasers.

Other Habit Releasers

• Newspaper: change it or stop reading one for a week. If you normally read one online, why not buy a physical copy instead?
• Don’t use social media all day.
• Magazine: buy and read a different one.
• Go vegetarian for a day (or even a week).
• Radio: change channels.
• Podcast: choose one at random.
• Use a different typeface when you work on a computer.
• Food: try something you have never eaten before (especially if it has seemingly strange or unexpected ingredients).
• Rationalise email: (unsubscribe from one list each day).
• Journey: go somewhere new, or somewhere familiar via a different route.
• Observe your posture every hour (do it for a whole day). Set a reminder on your phone to do so.
• Go to a public meeting: try the town hall or one organised by a pressure group, political party or NGO.
• Sow some seeds (and watch them grow to fruition).
• Paint or draw in any medium or style.
• Live sport: go and watch one, especially if you don’t like sport or haven’t been in years.
• Do some mindful tidying for fifteen minutes each day for a week (take your time and notice how it feels).
• Charity work: choose any local group (it doesn’t have to be particularly ‘worthy’).
• Read a book: choose a genre you would not normally consider.
• Don’t watch TV for a day. How does it feel?
• Give up your favourite drink for a day and try a different one.
• Go to the park and watch the sky for at least thirty minutes.
• Sport: try something new, especially if you would not normally consider it or if you never take part in any sport at all. Have you considered yoga, Tai Chi, or Pilates?
• Go vegan for a day (or even longer).
• Exercise: try something new such as hiking or cycling.
• Play with a child’s toys (Lego or Meccano are ideal).
• Spell: use a dictionary to learn ten new words.
• Cinema: go on your own to watch film.
• Play a children’s game (hopscotch anyone?)
• Drive in a less aggressive manner.
• Music: listen to a different genre.
• Clothes: wear something totally different (especially if you would never normally consider it).
• Theatre: go and see a play.
• Go and deliberately talk to a neighbour.
• Make a child laugh.
• Sing in the bath.
• Be nice to someone you do not like.
• Listen to someone you normally find boring: totally indulge them.
• Get up one hour earlier.
• Go to bed one hour earlier.
• Dance alone for five minutes.
• Make a list of possession that you do not need.
• Recycle or give away something you do not need (or perhaps several things that you do not need).
• Turn your mobile off for a day.
• Learn a new skill. It doesn’t matter what, carpentry, origami or whatever takes your fancy. And remember, sites like YouTube are ideal for beginners