This post is my entry to Debbie Reynolds' ActiveRain September Challenge which asks us to share our good, bad and ugly habits. This was a great idea for a challenge; I've loved reading from others what they think makes a good/bad or ugly habit! So here are mine.
Good:
For this challenge I will say my good habit is time management.
I am up early every day, usually somewhere around 5am. I grab my coffee, sit down at my desk and for the next few hours (usually two and a half) I take care of all my routine items.
I check my emails and respond to them. I send any emails I need to send to follow-up on previous day's work.
I review my MLS hotsheet and if there's anything "hot" for a specific client, I send it along.
Anything I can get done without a phone call, I do during this early morning period. I check-in with social media and ActiveRain. If I'm going to write a post, I usually start it now. I print out listings for showings, and make any requests for appointments that can be done online.
Then after all my computer work, somewhere between 7:30-8am, I get whatever exercise is on the plan for the day. Running, walking, biking, hiking, jumping jacks. Then it's time to shower and get started on the real day which can include appointments, meetings, phone calls and the like.
I make sure my early morning schedule includes everything that I must get done that day, and because of that, I am usually in great shape by the time I start running around. So my time management is a good habit.
Bad:
My bad habit could be seen as the opposite side of the same coin because it relates to time as well. I have to be early for every appointment.
That might sound like a good thing, but I wind up wasting time I don't need to waste when I get places early and wait. If I'm showing a house, I am there 15 minutes early. I turn on the lights and walk through the house, but that only takes a minute or two, so I usually have at least 10 minutes to wait. Usually more since I've found many people are not on time. So one negative of my need to be early is that I waste time.
But another negative is I get stressed if I'm running "late" which in my case means, I'll be on time. And I get anxious if I'm going to actually be late. I hate that.
The other day, I left my house at 8:45am for a 10am lease signing appointment that was about a 50 minute drive from my home office. There's a reason I went that far for a lease signing, but that's another story. Anyway, I had plenty of cushion in case there was traffic.
As I cruised 20 minutes down one specific road, I saw tail lights. In this particular area, there are no shortcuts or other ways to get to the highway. You either have to turn around or just go forward. So I waited. Fifteen minutes later I started to feel a little concerned. But I still had a few minutes of cushion left. Fifteen minutes later, I was tense. I realized I was going to be nearly an hour late. Why? Because I finally heard that there was a water main break and the entire road was closed off, and I'd have to go back to the starting point to take another route.
I wound up canceling my attendance at the lease signing. But the point is, I was stressed, which hardly ever happens to me. There isn't much in this world that makes me anxious, but being late or potentially being late does. So I think my need to be early to everything is a bad habit. I'm not sure I can even change this - I tried putting on music I love and singing along, but that didn't work for long. I might just be stuck with this habit.
Ugly
I can't think of any ugly habits I have now, but I have in the past. I started smoking cigarettes at the young age of 14 as a dare of my even younger sister. And I found I liked the way the smoke felt as it went down into my lungs and back out my mouth. That might sound nuts, but as a 14 year old, it was a cool feeling that first time. So I continued to smoke. And as with anyone who picks up a cigarette, it turned into an ugly habit.
I only smoked for seven years, but from that first day, it was a consistent habit. We used to be able to purchase cigarette packs from vending machines which could be found everywhere. I don't even think there were age limits to buy cigarettes, because I also remember buying them at the counter at various stores. By the time I turned 21, I was smoking two packs a day, smelled like a factory, coughed often, and had lost my ability to taste food properly.
Somewhere after my 21st birthday, and before my 22nd, I quit. I'm one of those cold turkey quitters. I thought about it for a while, and when I finally decided I had to stop, that's what I did. It wasn't easy, especially if I had a cup of coffee or an alcoholic drink, but I was finished. It took years before the cravings went away, but wow, am I glad I stopped. My clothes no longer smelled like smoke, I could taste and smell things better, I stopped coughing and my health improved. Phew!
And there you have it, my good, bad and ugly habits. And that's all the time I have! Gotta go.
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