Healthy Tip # 212

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Healthy tips courtesy of Tim Bilkey, MD and Craig Surman, MD

healthillustratedDevelop habits for the “critical moments” at which you get derailed from productive, healthy, balanced living. “Critical moments” are the moments right before you might make a poor choice, whether that choice is to stay up
late when you have work the next day, or to eat poorly, or to interrupt your work to answer an email, or to accept a project you don’t have time for, or to skip your workout. “Critical moments are like a fork in the road, one way
leading to a life that runs well, and the other to disorganization.” It takes special planning to make sure healthy habits get practiced at the critical moments where they can make the most difference. Planning ahead involves an awareness of the present, being able to project what the new task will involve, and then switching gears to do that task. Planning, checklists, calendars, and alarm reminders can all be helpful. It’s also necessary to be mindful of where you are vulnerable, so you can put a system in place to stay on track. So, think back to moments where organizational habits can help and note where, when, how, or what it would take to make a better choice in those moments.

– Tim Bilkey, MD and Craig Surman, MD, authors of “FAST MINDS: How To Thrive If You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might)” (Berkley Books, Feb 2013):