What are some things that you do on a regular basis that you don’t give a second thought to? What are the visual, sound, and smell cues to signal what action you should take? Is it the smell of coffee being made that reminds to grab some breakfast every morning? Is it the sound of your favorite show coming on that makes you want to make a little snack? we are constantly exposed to little cues that influence our actions and behaviors.
Adding Perspective
Because of the infinitesimal amount of information our brains have to process every single second of every single day, it creates neural pathways (patterns and associations) as shortcuts to efficiently process through the most seemingly relevant pieces of information that we received through our senses. This is why environmental cues can have such a strong influence in our daily lives.
Thoughts for the Week
The next time you experience being on autopilot, ask yourself how did it came to be? Is it truly the most efficient way to go about performing X task or is there an even better way? Do I really need to incorporate this particular behavior into my routine? We do certain things just out of pure enjoyment while others are more out of habit. The latter can inadvertently decrease our energy and motivation that we could have put toward other activities. As such, it is important to assess our priorities from time to time to avoid getting into a rut.