Everyone has bad habits that they just can’t break or they don’t know how to. Well, some students at North Harford have you covered when it comes to understanding bad habits and how to kick them to the curb.

     Senior Grace Herron has often found herself, “being late to a lot of things and sometimes rushing to school.” It all started, “during the summer, staying up till three and four am playing video games and then sleeping till noon the next day.”

     This habit that “wasted a lot of time,” for Herron was, “really hard to break!” But after having enough of rushing to get to things all the time she found that, “some good ways to get rid of bad sleeping habits is setting alarms and keeping a schedule for the day.”

      The senior believes that “a lot of habits are formed as a result of over relaxing. Oversleeping during the weekends leads to oversleeping during the week!”

     Sophomore Collin Morse warned against habits like, “procrastination, having a bad sleep schedule, and not having enough positive interaction.” The consequences of these habits are, “overworking yourself and not being able to enjoy yourself especially when it comes to school.”

     “Becoming too stressed out and not giving yourself enough time in the day can lead to you waiting to do your homework or putting other things off.” Morse stressed the idea of, “making a good schedule for yourself and even getting others to help you find the right balance.”

     “Sometimes bad habits are formed for convenience or to help you lose track of time,” said Olivia Waldsmith. The senior explained how many people have unhelpful habits that consist of, “spending too much time on your phone, staying up really late, or not eating healthy.

     She feels that “certain habits should be avoided if they don’t help you live a happier, healthier life.” But “being aware that you are picking up habits that have negative impacts on your health and replacing them with healthier ones,” is how Waldsmith leads, “a more stress-free life.”

     Some examples of replacement habits are, “taking a walk, participating in sports or clubs, and talking with friends who don’t make your habits worse.” Something she used to struggle with was, “nail-biting a lot.” A way she knocked this bad habit was Waldsmith, “started getting acrylics and that prevented […] [her] from biting them.”

     According to James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, he believes the best way to identify an unhealthy habit is, “the first step is to pen down a chronological list of your daily habits. Then, you rate each habit as an “effective,” “ineffective,” or a “neutral habit.” This strategy is important for helping you, “discern the relevance of each habit in your personal growth.”