Podcast: Change Your Habits for Good

Full Transcript:
Released 1/16/2024

PODCAST OPEN:            
You’re listening to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, created by the Arthritis Foundation to help people with arthritis — and the people who love them — live their best lives. If you’re dealing with chronic pain, this podcast is for you. You may have arthritis, but it doesn’t have you. Here, learn how you can take control of arthritis with tips and ideas from our hosts and guest experts. 

MUSIC BRIDGE 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Welcome to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast. My name is Stacy Courtnay, and I will be your guest host today. Also joining me is Dr. Afton Hassett as our guest expert. And our topic today is changing your habits for better health. But before we get started, let me tell you a little bit about myself. 

I live in Atlanta. I've had rheumatoid arthritis for about 20 years now. Currently, I serve as the chair for our local leadership board. And I'm also on the Patient Perspectives Panel. I've been volunteering for the Foundation for about seven years now. And it truly is my passion to help others who are dealing with the challenges of arthritis. 

Whether it's mindless eating, sitting too much, procrastinating to the point of stress — we all have some bad habits that take a toll on our physical and mental health that can ultimately worsen our arthritis. In this episode, Dr. Afton Hassett helps us find mental and physical strategies to stop those bad habits and establish good ones for better arthritis management and overall health and wellness. So, now, I will turn it over to Dr. Hassett for her to introduce herself. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Hi, Stacy. This is a great topic. I am an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan. I'm a new author of the book, “Chronic Pain Reset,” where we spend a lot of time talking about habit formation. So, this is just such a good topic. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
And perfect timing for the new year, right? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah, that's right. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
We all have some bad habits that we need to break and start fresh in this new year. So, what is the best place to begin the discussion about bad habits? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Oh, my goodness. I think probably the best place is to admit that you have some. I mean, we all do have bad habits, but just saying, "You know what? I think I'm done with this one." And it really is the heart of the New Year's resolution, to try and give up some of these things so we can do things that are better for our health and our happiness. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Do you have any bad habits? Because I certainly had my share of them in 2023. And I'm really looking forward to this new year and getting rid of some bad habits. In '21, '22, I was so good with my exercise and my diet and my supplements. But last year, I just pretty much took a year off from being my best self and doing all those healthy habits. So, I'm getting ready. I am a little late into the year getting started, but I've got my list of habits that I'm going to break and start fresh. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
And I think it's great to start with one. If we can kind of focus, that's great. So, we'll think about exercise. And that will run in the background for you. I drink too much sugar substitutes. I put it in my coffee and tea. I want to find a way that I can maybe get that out of my life and have something a little healthier. 

Maybe the exercise is a little bit about kind of forgetting, that you get so busy that you almost forget. That's a common problem. We'll talk about that. For me, making the change is just that using Splenda, whatever is easy. It's right there. I can use it. We'll kind of noodle around: How do we overcome some of these barriers? 

Stacy Courtnay: 
My personality is I'm all or nothing. So, it's almost like if I don't exercise on a Monday, I'm like, "OK, I'm just going to wait until the next Monday." I mean (laughs), you know? So, that's kind of my mindset that I need to change. Because we do need to start small. And I know we'll talk about that in a little bit. Why do we have these bad habits when we know better? Like, we absolutely know they're bad for us, and we need to do better. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Bad habits really just tend to be shortcuts. They're familiar. They're easy things to do. They're comfortable. And often, they're just comforting behaviors, things that are known and simple. Sometimes, our bad habits are our vices, you know, things that we kind of cling to because they're bad. 

You know, sometimes there's just something good about being bad. I hear people who smoke who can say that, or eating chocolate or fried chicken or whatever it is. And there's just something about the comforting, the joy of doing something kind of bad. 

The problem is when we do these things repetitively. If we do things with enough frequency, they start to get wired into our brain. And then they become kind of hard-wired behaviors, things that we do on autopilot. We don't go out there trying to form bad habits, right? They kind of just appear. And then we allow them to stick around. Sometimes, we just don't have the energy to oust bad habits from our lives. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Right. Well, and you're speaking about your sugar substitutes. Or is it too much sugar, or your sugar substitutes? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Sugar substitutes. I want to let go of them.  

Stacy Courtnay: 
Well, mine: I was thinking sugar and wine. It's become a habit. I don't need the nightly glass of wine, it's just a bad habit. And so, I've got to retrain my brain. Because, yeah, like you said, once you do something long enough, it's wired into your brain. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Part of what you do is you examine what is that about, though. You know, is that your treat for the end of the day? You've worked hard. It can help you unwind a little bit. And that's why that glass of wine is so important to you. Is there something that you can substitute with? Because usually the reason we fail at changing our habits is we just take away stuff and don't give ourselves something in return to fill that need. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Absolutely. So, that's part of why they're so hard to break. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yes, exactly right. We just can't give up everything. No, there needs to be a viable alternative. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
How do some of these bad habits affect arthritis negatively? I mean, when we talk about diet and exercise, we know that those are both very beneficial for arthritis or any type of chronic pain. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah. Well, you know, geez, Stacy, there's so many of them. Poor eating, that's kind of a bad habit that many people have. And poor diet can impact your energy. It can make you gain weight. It can impact your ability to think clearly. It can even make your pain worse. And what's not good for people with autoimmune disease; it can even make inflammation worse. So, diet is really, really critical. 

If we don't get enough physical activity, our muscles can become deconditioned. And no good comes from that. You know, it can certainly make our arthritis worse, our widespread pain worse. We can have more bone loss. And we can have weight gain. The less you exercise, the greater you enhance your risk for most diseases and other illnesses, even your brain health. So, exercise is critical. And then, kind of part and parcel: sitting too much. Sitting is kind of the new smoking. 

It's not just about being static. It's actually about sitting. Standing is superior. That's why we're seeing so many standup desks. Just sitting has been tied with having decreased blood flow to the legs, but also it impacts your sugar regulation, blood pressure. It alters the normal function of blood vessels and increases your risk for diabetes and heart attack. And then sleep. You know, sleep is such a pivotal thing. Bad sleep is often due to bad habits. And we see this over and over again. There's just stuff that we do that disrupts our ability to sleep. 

And when we have poor sleep, it greatly impacts almost every aspect of autoimmune disease and chronic pain. It impacts your mood, your energy, your ability to think. It can promote inflammation in the body. It certainly makes pain worse, increases your risk for heart attack, dementia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Right. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
The last big one: the habits that bring us stress. Stress is also a killer. The things that we do, like procrastinate, that, you know… negative thinking, poor mood, allowing ourselves to feel overwhelmed by the day, all these things that produce stress. And I don't know if stress is necessarily a habit, but many of the things that we do can create stress in our lives. And certainly, we all know stress makes just about every physiological process worse. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
With me, not exercising and feeling like I'm taking care of myself, it makes you depressed. It makes you anxious, it causes worry. I don't like, emotionally, how I feel because I'm not doing... I'm not getting the endorphins from the exercise. I'm not eating the nutrient-rich foods that I know I should be eating. And I've just taken the easy way out this last year of ordering too much fast food, you know? Drinking too much wine. The emotional toll is something that I think some people don't realize how, when you are in great physical health, you feel better about yourself. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
You described a really important downward spiral, that people who are feeling kind of lousy, lousy about themselves, are less likely to do things to take care of themselves. And thus, they even feel worse. Because now, they're not exercising and eating well. I always tell people to get good physical activity. It doesn't have to be going to the gym. It doesn't have to be this planned workout. Sometimes the best exercise we get is just throwing on our sneakers and going for a brisk walk. 

You know, it doesn't have to involve a lot of time, because often, the time is the other piece. People feel very hesitant to spend 45 minutes to an hour, an hour and a half, of their day, getting dressed, getting in the car, going to the gym, doing a class, coming back. It just feels like such a burden, rather than saying, "Hey, can I just throw on a YouTube arm exercise video for five minutes and do that?" 

Or just walk briskly for 15 minutes. And then also, if we are exercising and don't really realize we're exercising… So, if you love to dance, and you're taking a dance class, you are getting tremendous exercise and physical activity, but you don't feel like it's exercise. Now, you're doing the thing you love. 

Stacy Courtnay:
Exactly. So, any type of movement is a good step in the right direction for creating that habit. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yes. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
I was reading an article last week, I forget the author's name, but he mentioned a keystone habit. And a keystone habit is one good foundational habit which will inevitably lead to more good habits. And it's a domino effect. So, if you do start with the exercise, you're going to feel better about yourself, you're going to want to eat better, you're going to get better sleep. 

But on the flip side, I think it's the same with a keystone bad habit. If you are drinking too much wine, you're not going to sleep well. You're going to wake up and not feel great. So, it's just a spiral effect. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Oh, you're so right, Stacy. Let's look at the apex habit or single habit. And so, just starting at the exercise, because they do build on each other. And if you feel like, “Oh my God, OK. I've got to exercise. I've got to stop eating chocolate. I have to stop smoking and stop drinking wine.” Oh, my gosh. Nobody wants to do that. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
It sounds miserable, not doing those things. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
That's awful, right? So, you know what? How about we exercise? And then once you kind of get into that mode, you may actually feel like, "Oh my God, I don't want to smoke anymore. So, I can let go of that." 

Sometimes, we just need to zero in on the apex habit we're willing to do. And actually, that's the other piece: is willingness. People don't do anything they're not willing to do. We need to value what we're going to do. And it needs to make sense to us, or we just don't do it. 

PROMO: 
The Arthritis Foundation is always looking for new ways to inform you about the things you want to know more about. Check out our webinars — in real time or on demand. Visit https://www.arthritis.org/events/webinars to learn more. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
How long does it take to form a better habit? Is it the 21-day theory? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I think it depends on the habit. I think if it's a daily thing, the 21 days is pretty reasonable. But you need to give yourself a lot of crutches. I wanted to remind myself to do mindfulness training every day. So, how was I going to remind myself to take 10 minutes every day and just have a mindfulness moment, right? And so, you know what I did? I went out to the store. And I found this really great bracelet. It was so cute. And I wear that. And so, when I see it, it reminds me to meditate. 

So sometimes you have to play these games with yourself to help you remember, especially if it's something daily, because we respond very well to cues. Sometimes, you just need to create the atmosphere where you can succeed. And again, kind of 21 days, that does work. It takes longer if you're trying to remember to do something like once or twice a week, right? If you say, "I want to exercise twice a week," that can be longer for you to actually form a habit. So, you're going to need more support in place to help you remember to do that, to reinforce it when you do it. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
You have your bracelet. I started with, one, an accountability partner. So, my husband and I, we're going to hold each other accountable. I think that's really helpful if you have a support system. I have a journal now. I've written down my goals, which are my new habits that I want to establish. Any other tips to make it easier to make a habit stick? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
There's so many things. And again, it's very individual. I think one of the first things is just to make it easy. If your goal is to start exercise, maybe just start walking. And you want to walk in the morning, then what you want to do is maybe put your walking shoes, a bottle of water, your keys, a wallet, right by your bed on a chair. You get up in the morning, you see it. It's there. It's easy-peasy. You want to make the habit as easy as possible to do. That’s kind of the first thing. 

Another really clever way of building a habit is something called habit stacking. And what that is is leveraging habits you already have, good habits. And the easiest one to think of is maybe brushing your teeth, right? If you know you brush your teeth every morning and every evening, pretty much at the same time, and maybe your new habit you want to get: It's just to stretch, just to spend five minutes stretching in the morning and the evening. Well, the way you habit stack is that: Right after you brush your teeth, you do your five minutes of stretching, because boom, there it is. And then the same thing at night. You know, you do your five minutes of stretching. 

So, taking things that you do religiously. Can be your cup of coffee in the morning. It could be something to do with how you drive into work. It could be when you walk the dog. Whatever these kind of fixed habits that you have: Stack the habit with it. It's just another way to gain success. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
And I think that's an important point. Sometimes, when you are not doing a lot of great habits, and you have too many bad habits, we don't give ourselves enough credit. Because now that you're saying this, I do have some really good habits that I forgot about. Like, I do brush; I do floss. I do drink a ton of water. So, I think you have to give yourself some grace. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I love setting goals. We've kind of heard of SMART goals before something... You know, you make sure that the goal is very specific. That's the S. It's measurable. It's achievable, so we can actually do it. It's relevant; it aligns with your goals. And that it's time -based. A SMART goal would be: Walk in the morning for 15 minutes, because it feels and it sounds so achievable. Walking 15 minutes is measurable. It's also achievable. Relevant, it's what you want to do. You feel good about walking. And then time-based. 

We're talking in my book about TAGs, which are tiny, achievable goals, the tiniest thing that you can do. Let's say your new habit is to eat healthier. Well, what's the smallest thing you could do? Maybe it's just starting with breakfast. Have a bowl of oatmeal, or if you really enjoy Cheerios, or whatever it is. So, it's these tiny little goals. Saying that "I'm going to eat better" is a huge, massive, weird, amorphous goal. Eating healthy cereal every morning is tiny and achievable. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
It is. And also, I think with a chronic illness such as arthritis, sometimes, your goals and your habits have to change on how you're feeling. One day, you might be feeling really, really great, and you might kill it at the gym, or whatever your form of movement may be. But the next day, you might have to really adjust that and give yourself some grace. Because every day is so different with autoimmune arthritis. Because there are days you're just too tired. But if you could just get out and do something, one good habit, that might not be what you set out to do, but at least you're still doing something good for your body. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
It's kind of what I consider just building in flexibility into the new habit, that you do give yourself some grace or a little bit of space to do something differently. It doesn't mean “Now, I can't do this, and I've blown it. So, I'm not going to bother changing the habit.” Now, it just means, “OK, this day I just need to stretch because I don't feel good enough to go to the gym. I'm really fatigued.” That is so OK. And you need to give yourself permission to have flex days, too, where you don't do a darn thing. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Absolutely. Take a nap, right? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yep, absolutely. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Your new habit could be a nap. I did joke for a long time that I would have to put in time in my day that I would take a nap for 47 minutes. It was like my body was conditioned. But I needed that rest because I was so fatigued with the pain and just the stress of having a chronic illness. And so, the nap got me through. And rest can be the best thing for your body a lot of times. And that is a good habit to get into. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I totally agree. What undermines good people is their desire to just take care of other people and put other people first. And what happens is we end up burning ourselves out in our efforts to not only fight an autoimmune disease and deal with all of that, but then also be a super person and take care of everybody else. It just has to give at some point. Life is a marathon, right? 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yes. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
We need to kind of pace ourselves. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Exactly. So, any other advice you have for people with arthritis or chronic illness to create healthy habits that can reduce their pain? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
You said social support. So, you've got your husband engaged in your new habit. And that's so important. There is almost nothing more effective than the friend that's going to call you up and say, "Hey, did you get out of bed and do X?" Or the person who's going to do something with you. It's really great when people serve to support a new habit rather than be a barrier to it, right? 

And then I think, lastly: Stuff needs to be fun, right? We are humans. We move towards pleasure and away from pain. It's just how we're wired. The new thing has to feel like it's OK. It's not going to be like torture, or whatever it is. Find a way to make whatever it is a little bit more enjoyable. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
I've been a volunteer within the Foundation. You know, one of the big aspects is connections and connecting with others in your same situation. And so, we have various Connect Groups. And so, it is helpful. When you are trying to form these habits, you're forming them with other people that are experiencing the same challenges as yourself. I always encourage people to join one of our Connect Groups, because you can have a shared experience, you have a shared journey, and you'd really help one another when you're having those challenging days. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Just people with lived experience. They could say "Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about." And it just feels so good. And you don't feel so isolated. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Absolutely. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I just wanted to toss in just a couple more. Reminders are important. A new habit is hardest to form when it's in early stages, because we just forget. And so, put out something decorative on your counter so it reminds you. Wear the bracelet, like my little meditation bracelet. Write yourself a sticky note on your bathroom mirror. Just ways to remind yourself. 

And then lastly, reward yourself. Come up with your goal. And when you meet it... You know, say it's doing this new activity for the next four weeks, and once you do it, give yourself something special. It can be just about anything. And I think it often helps solidify a habit because we get very excited and motivated by stuff. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yeah, I agree with that. (laughs) 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
It could be little. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Right, right. 

PROMO: 
Movement is the best medicine. But it can be hard when you hurt. Your Exercise Solution is a resource to help you create a customized physical activity routine based on your specific needs and abilities. Learn more at https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/physical-activity/getting-started/your-exercise-solution. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
We threw a question out there on social media. And so, our question was: What habit that affects your arthritis would you like to change? And so, one user said, "Eating candy and dessert and a lot of sugar with my coffee." I think we all need to limit our sugar, right, because sugar causes inflammation, which is not great for our arthritis. 

And another user said, "Not moving my body on a regular basis. I always feel better when I regularly exercise, even if it's just for a walk." And that's exactly what you said, just any type of movement. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I Like that first one: "Eating candy, dessert and a lot of sugar with my coffee." Oh, no. So, this sounds a little bit like my dilemma. (laughter) And so, the way we're most successful... You know, people say, "Oh, just go cold turkey." Well, cold turkey is really hard and often leads to a really big relapse. And so, I think small and slow changes. Maybe she just decreases the amount of dessert at first, right? Eat dessert, but don't eat the huge piece of pie; eat a third of the piece of pie. 

Use a little less sugar in your coffee, just some decrease. And over time, it's amazing how quickly your body actually acclimates to the sugar. And all of a sudden, that sugar will taste like too much. But it takes a little while to acclimate. And then you mentioned one about, "Not moving my body on a regular basis. I feel better when I regularly exercise, even if it's just a walk." Yeah, just a walk. Come on. Just a walk is great. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Even if it's five or 10 minutes. Yes. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
I totally agree. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
The next user said, "Sleep. I need sleep, then definitely stress and wine." 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah, it's recurring. I see these three together: sleep, stress and wine. And they kind of shout at me that maybe there's an underlying something going on there. It sounds like this person might just be stressed. And they kind of have stress in the middle. So, the question is that maybe there's a strategy that she or he could pick that would help all three. 

It could be developing a habit of doing a little bit of mindfulness meditation every day. It could be a stretching routine. It could be some yoga. It could be learning progressive muscle relaxation. There could be just a number of things that can be done, just to dial down the stress, and all those things would likely get better. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yeah. And the wine causes interrupted sleep. So, those two go hand in hand a lot of times. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah, absolutely. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
All right. The next user, she says, "Not saving enough battery to do the tasks needed around the house after work." I can relate to that. Definitely the fatigue with any chronic illnesses is the worst. What are your thoughts on that one? 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
This is one of the big toughies. I mean, this is kind of at the heart of spoon theory. I'm sure you probably have heard of that. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yes. Spoons. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
The spoons, right? That you only have a certain amount of spoons every day. And when you blow through them in the first 15 minutes of the day, what do you do? Sometimes, it is just trying to think about how to do these tasks a little bit differently. It could be that rather than doing a lot of tasks around the house after work, then maybe one needs to be done. And maybe there's a task that can be done in the morning. And then how about those lazy people who live with you? (laughter) Maybe they can do a task, too. It is about engaging our family members. And I think, often, people are hesitant to ask for help. We put on our very strong-person face, and say, "I can do it all," rather than say, "Hey, can I get you to take the trash out?" Whatever it is. 

There's also activity pacing, which I think is really a powerful, kind of cognitive, behavioral strategy for doing something that takes a lot of energy. Let's say if it's raking leaves, or some darn thing, that if you know that you can rake the leaves for about five minutes before you get totally wiped out and stressed out, or have a pain flare, then rake the leaves for four minutes, and then take a four-minute break. And then… 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Oh, I like that. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Rake the leaves again four minutes, and then take a four-minute break. It's just a safer way to do things rather than what we tend to do: just power through. “I don't care what happens.” And then we end up just making ourselves feel worse for days to come. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Right. You're wiped out. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
And that's not good for anyone. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
No. (laughs) 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Well, I like that. So, activity pacing. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Or house things. I can only fold laundry for so long a period of time. I can only mow the grass for only a period of time. I can only walk the dog for a period of time. And I have to rest. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
The general population doesn't understand that an autoimmune type of arthritis affects your entire body, and it's not just your joints. And so, you're afraid to ask for help. You're embarrassed. That's what I love about the Foundation, that we're just trying to educate the general population that it's not the old-person disease. It's not just your joints. It's your whole body. And we have a right to ask for help. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
The awareness is so important that people understand it, that arthritis is an autoimmune disease, the full lifespan. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yeah. Our last user, she says she has two habits. The first one is overworking. "Often, this is very self-imposed, and it's not something required of my employer, but it's certainly a habit that I have created. And what it does is, by the end of the week, I'm so drained that it doesn't allow me to have time over the weekend to do things other than reset my life." That seems to be a common theme. 

And the second thing is her sleep habits: "I find it hard to stay asleep, and I think creating overall better sleep hygiene and making sure I'm doing all the things I need to do before I go to bed. For example, stretching, a bath, guided meditation, taking medication early enough. Those are all things that can impact my sleep and create a better habit." And then she says, "Both of these things are on my vision board for 2024 to make an impact." So, I love that. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Oh, she's awesome. This is good stuff. I love a vision board. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
I do, too. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
And these are good. These are common. The first one is overworking. And she says this is self-imposed. She has an insight. This is not her employer driving her. She is overworking. So, I'm a psychologist. And so, I think: What's driving her to overwork? Is it overcompensating because of the illness? What is it? What is the rule that she has that's telling her this is how she needs to be in order to be valued or accepted? 

The B part of that, then, is: Sometimes, overworking is about being hesitant to ask for help. So, part of that is to be able to work smarter, meaning to rely on your team members or others within the group that you're working with to do some of these. And be willing to delegate. Because some people are pretty perfectionistic, and they have a hard time letting go of tasks. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
We have a program called Arthritis@Work. And it is a free program that helps employees communicate with employers, and vice versa, on the daily challenges of working with a chronic illness. It's a free program that we offer to corporations with their HR, their wellness departments. It just gives them resources. I love the resources that the Arthritis Foundation provides. Because it is such a misunderstood illness. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
The Arthritis Foundation totally rocks. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Yes, it does. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
They gave me my first research grant. I'm so grateful. 

And then if we turn to her sleeping habits, first of all, bravo. I'm looking through the things that she does, stretching, a bath, guided meditation, taking medication early. All those things are so good. There's a couple of other things to add on. 

We have so much light pollution that many rooms are brighter than they need to be. And what happens is that light seeps in, and it cues the brain, "Oh, time to wake up." So, I always tell people, "Make sure your room is very dark." Think about potentially getting light-dampening curtains. That's one thing. 

And another thing that I hear over and over again that people don't do well, and it can be really sleep-disruptive, is they don't get up in the morning at the same time every morning and go to bed at the same time every evening. There's a lot of variability in the times people go to bed, especially on the weekends, and the times they get up. The body loves predictability. 

So, that, to me, is like probably my number one sleep hygiene tip. Just change that one thing. And it would be surprising how much better sleep can be. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
And I love white noise. I love a white noise machine. That's definitely helpful. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yeah, for sure. 

PROMO:  
If you want to learn more about juvenile arthritis and related diseases, count on the Arthritis Foundation. Explore JA camps. The national JA Family Summit. And other ways to stay in touch and be-in-the-know about everything JA, for juvenile arthritis. Visit https://www.arthritis.org/juvenile-arthritis.  

Stacy Courtnay: 
Let’s wrap up. And let’s each say our top three takeaways from this conversation. And I am happy to start. Because I learned a lot from you. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Great. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
I would say number one is the apex habit, which is the first habit that you want to change, which will lead to more and more better habits. I love that. I love the habit stacking. Oftentimes, we don't give ourselves enough credit for the good habits that we already have, even though we have several other bad habits; but it's good to acknowledge the good ones and just add on to those. 

And I love the idea of the activity pacing. So, whether that is exercise, or a task in the home, doing something for a set amount of time, and then resting, and then starting again. So, I value your knowledge and your advice on all of that. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Great. Thank you, Stacy. We talked about the notion that people go towards pleasure and avoid pain. So, make the new habit something you actually want to do, right? If your new habit is eating more kale, and you despise kale, you're likely not going to do well with that habit, right? 

Make it something that feels fun, that feels appealing, that is really, truly something you want to do. Set reminders, because even though we know that this is a habit we want to do, we feel good about it, we like it, we're kind of excited to do it, we just forget. Because we're stuck in our other habits. About 80% of what we do, believe it or not, are habits. (laughs) 

We are so routine. So, create a reminder to remind... that we need to do this new thing. And then lastly, rewards. It can be something as small as allowing yourself to sleep an extra 10 minutes. Or it can be a snack. It can be a new pair of shoes. It can be a little trip to a favorite restaurant. Whatever it is, give yourself rewards for a job well done. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Absolutely. I like that. Reward yourself for your good new habits that you're taking into 2024. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Yes. 

Stacy Courtnay: 
Well, I appreciate your time. You've been wonderful. My name is Stacy Courtnay. And we thank all of you for joining us. I wish everybody a very happy and healthy new year with many, many good habits. Thank you so much. 

Dr. Afton Hassett: 
Thank you, too, Stacy. It's been a pleasure. 

PODCAST CLOSE: 
The Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast is independently produced by the Arthritis Foundation. This podcast aims to help people living with arthritis and chronic pain live their best life. People like you. For a transcript and show notes, go to https://www.arthritis.org/liveyes/podcast. Subscribe and rate us wherever you get your podcasts. And stay in touch!