I was getting ready for dinner during a short weekend getaway at a nice hotel. After blowdrying my hair and putting on cologne, I washed my hands. The soap came from a wall-mounted dispenser.
Right next to it, there was another dispenser, but this one was filled with body lotion instead. Once I had dried my hands, I almost automatically pressed the top twice, caught some lotion, and put it on my face.
As I was walking outside, I realized that moisturizing rarely happened as effortlessly when I was at home. I didn’t have to think long to understand why: In my own bathroom, I only have one large bottle of lotion. It’s tucked into a kind of rubber organizer all the way at the back of the shelf. Since the bottle is squeezed in rather tightly, it’s a fuss to just get it out. Once I’ve managed that, dispensing the lotion also isn’t exactly a smooth process. I might get too much or too little, go back multiple times, smear the lotion on the bottle in the process, and then, by the end of it all, I have to fiddle the bottle back into its place.
In other words: It’s no wonder I rarely take care of my skin. It’s too hard! I like the feeling when I’m done—so it’s not an inherent aversion to face cream. I simply have put too many stones in my own way. If all it takes is a dispenser, perhaps it’s about time to change my lotion setup.
Many of our best habits are hard-won with years of discipline. Others fail to take hold for the sole reason that we’ve made them too complicated. No one can get around building the former—but anyone can make their life easier by looking for and then unlocking the latter. Encourage your best habits.
