Everyone has habits that get stuck with them after years and years of doing them. They can be little things, tick-like things, or full-fledged rituals. Not all of them are bad. Some, I guess, are kinda neutral. I really wanna stop doing two things: - cracking/popping my knuckles - biting my fingernails Well, I suppose this thread could be mainly a discussion about habits/rituals, but also - how can you stop habits? I've heard of ignoring the urges, or doing something else... So, what habits have you had, or do you have, and how have you stopped them? Any advice for a lifelong nail-biting-knuckle-popper?
I've been biting my nails for 38 years. I just decided I liked doing it, so I don't think I'm gonna stop anytime soon. Any habit you DO want to get rid of, you'll need to do a couple things. First off, most bad habits tend to be ingrained, unconscious sort of things. You don't sit there and announce "I'm going to bite my nails now" and then begin. You probably just glance down, see a nail is a bit large, stick it in your mouth, and start biting...probably without even realizing you're doing it. So the first thing to do is become aware when you're doing it. You can tell your friends to point it out when you're doing it, but that won't help when you're alone (and when, most likely, most of the nail biting and knuckle cracking takes place). So find other ways. Would you mind wearing nail polish? Not necessarily bright pink, but black or blue or some other color? That'd be a visual clue - when you look down at your fingers, you'll see the polish, and it'll remind you not to start biting. If you'd rather not go that route, maybe just apply clear enamel to your nails. You might not get the visual clue, but you'll probably taste it when you bite down on them. Similarly, some sort of clue for your knuckles. Maybe put a small band-aid around between the knuckles of your middle fingers? Not tight, and not over the knuckles, so you can still use the finger, but so when you reach for your hand to crack the knuckles, you see or feel the band-aid, and you realize what you're doing. A couple easy starting hints. Lex
I'm a nail biter AND a nail tearer (not as bad as it sounds...I have very flimsy nails.) As Lex said, nail polish works. They make a ton of clear nail polishes that have different benefits--I would recommend Sally Hansen Diamond-Finish nail polish or something of the sort--it's intended to strengthen your nails, which will be good to help stop biting (you'll probably realize what you're doing by the time you're able to even make an impression). I read/heard somewhere that it takes 21 days (3 weeks) to end a habit. That means 21 days of continuous not-nail-biting. If you think you can pull it off, I say try it. Of course, that doesn't mean you can start up again as soon as the 3 weeks are over, but it will help that unconscious will to stop. Might be worth trying. I got nothing on knuckle-cracking...sorry . But I hope that helps with nails. Good luck! -Mesk
I crack my knuckles without realizing it until the people around me beg me to stop "I dont see the fuss" but i jam my ring finger on stressful days to stop me from cracking them. It works well but i dont think its the best way to handle it.
Hey Sean, I had a few pretty bad habits myself. One was that, for someone who otherwise had a pretty clean mouth, I seemed to use the F word any time something didn't go right. Opposing team scored a run, "f^&*". I dropped my pen, "f%^&". You get the point. Anything went wrong, big or small, I dropped an f bomb. So, in college, I made my roomate take a dollar from me every time I did it. Believe me, I dropped the habit quick. Another was that I had a nervous habit of swinging my foot while laying down or sitting. To stop that habit, I would put my idle foot over my out-of-control foot. It took about a year to end that habit. Good luck
The best way to get rid of a habit is replace it. Every time feel the urge to bite your nails or crack your knuckles, do something else. The human mind is such that we will do things unconsciously. You can never completely erase bad habits, just transfer them around. You're also less likely to perform said bad habits if you're busy. Keeping your hands busy is the best way to do it: play video games, play cards, take up smoking, learn to solve a rubik's cube, read more, etc. If you pick up a bad habit like reading, I doubt anyone will bother you about it.
I also crack my knuckles...and I don't know how to stop that. But, they make a nail polish specifically designed (it's clear) to taste HORRIBLE! it's to stop people from biting their nails.....maybe it's called "No-Bite"..?? but, whatever it's called, it exists, and I bet u can find the name online.
Please don't start smoking. I'm sorry to contradict you, derek, but it can cause SERIOUS health problems that are much worse than simply biting your nails. The other suggestions are great--especially the video game one--but you shouldn't smoke. It's a bad idea to start in order to stop a bad habit, as it can be a very bad habit in and of itself.
I'm a knuckle cracker too. To shake it you have to say to yourself over and over that if you catch yourself starting you will stop. Just tell yourself that and it will start to become ingrained. Then as you get more used to the idea you will catch yourself more often. As soon as you catch yourself DISTRACT. Eventually it will help you stop feeling the need to do it. I gave up chewing my thumb nail (or skin, whatever) this way and it worked.
I used to smoke. I smoked for a year, but the beginning of sophomore year, I just stopped. Conveniently, we had a new school building, and I had new friends, and I lived with a different parent in a different house, so thankfully all my triggers were gone and quitting was WAY easy. But I personally don't think quitting smoking was easy - it was easy for me since my whole life was different. Heh. But yeah - I've gone the whole day without popping or biting. Euhhh. >_<
I hope you didn't mean to include take up smoking in here. As MeskElil pointed out, it is a bad idea and habit. I would not encourage anyone to take up that habit. Rather I would discourage them. Smoking is one of those habits that you do not even want to start. Keeping busy or doing things in which you can completely immerse yourself in, is a good way to stop some habits, for sure.
I quit biting my nails not long ago, thankfully, but I can't really explain how I did it - I just stopped. What I need to stop is pulling out strands of hair - I've been doing it on and off for years. At its worst, I had a bald patch. Now I don't, but my hair's thin in places. I really need to stop.
I used to bite my nails. And then I decided that I would stop because I didn't want to anymore. So whenever I felt the urge to, I would do something with my hands, like playing with play-doh. I crack my knuckles, and I don't know how to stop.
I have to stretch every 15 minutes...which involves cracking almost every joint in my body I love it:
I used to crack my knuckles/fingers, but I got scared at the idea of arthiritis (cba 4 prper speeling). I still bite my nails though, but I'm stopping. Good so far! But yeah, all the cracking isn't good enough for your body. I only do it in my finger when it feels like it's locked up or has that weird grinding feeling that I can get rid of by doing it. That's pretty rare though.
You all seem to have fairly normal habits. My ones are just weird, such as when I walk down a flight of stairs, I never step on the last one (i.e. just before the ground level) and it's probably bordering on OCD but....
I constantly chew my nails, but it hasn't bothered me. I used to only wash my hands (under nails too) when I was about to eat, but I pretty much eat around the clock. The plan was to gross myself out, but it kinda failed miserably. haha
