The success of “Atomic Habits” and a million other books about forming good habits or breaking bad ones should tell us something about how much humans think about our habits. We all have things we wish we did more or wish we did less, but what if some of our notions of good habits vs. bad are just…off?
Some things that are traditionally labeled as bad habits can actually be good for you, but they’ve gotten a bad rap for some reason. So when someone asked Reddit for examples of habits that are counted as “bad” but are actually good, people delivered.
Here are 7 of the most popular answers:
Fidgeting
How many kids were forced to sit still in school, internalizing the message that shaking your leg or foot or fidgeting in their seat was a bad habit? Turns out, movement like that is actually good for you. We’ve all heard that sitting is the new smoking, and tapping your toes or rocking in your chair helps keep your blood moving and protect your arteries from some of the harms posed by being too sedentary.
“Shaking/vibrating your leg when you have to be sitting for a long time, gets the blood moving, better than being completely stationary for hours.”
“It’s also useful when my toddler wants to be bounced. I just put him on my already shaking leg and it keeps going.”
“As someone with ADHD, this is good news!”
“As a wise man once said, ‘Motion is lotion.’”
“I have two relatives who are doctors. They both did an elder-care rotation and said ‘Motion is lotion: you stop moving, you die’ really resonated with their patients.”
Crying
How many children heard “Big boys don’t cry” or “Stop that crying or I’ll give you something to cry about?” growing up? Much like “stop fidgeting,” those admonitions weren’t just unkind or unrealistic, they were also wrong. Crying can be beneficial, helping to relieve stress and restore emotional balance.
“Crying actually helps ease pain, physically and emotionally.”
“Yes and I heard our tears actually contain stress hormones, so it’s literally helping our body reduce cortisol! That’s why we ‘feel better after a good cry.’”
“We evolved to both sweat and cry in order to survive in the world. Our bodies use both to keep us alive and biologically calibrated. Sweating and crying helped us outperform and outrun our predators and prey, and helped us build cohesive bonds, work as units, and build civilizations.
As a US Marine, this information is literally the difference between life and death not just in ourselves, but the life and death of others too.”
Napping at work
Okay, not necessary at work, though that would be good, too. But at during a work break, a short nap can revive and refresh you. According to the Mayo Clinic, a short nap in the early afternoon is the best nap for getting the benefits of napping without messing with your nighttime sleep.
“Taking a nap during lunch breaks. Some look down on it but I get a lot of energy from it.”
“Sometimes its not really about falling asleep. Just closing your eyes, laying back and purging any thoughts from your mind is enough.”
“All of Asia has done this forever. You ever spend time at an office in China? It’s almost eerie how quiet and dark it gets at lunch time, dudes roll out cots from under their desk and zonk out for a solid hour.”
“At work we have these privacy pod things in our cafeteria that are super comfortable, so I take a nap there most days. Definitely needed haha.”
Being lazy
Doing nothing all the time is definitely not healthy, but in our go, go, go society that places enormous value on “productivity,” carving out some “do nothing” time is actually beneficial. Rest and relaxation are an important part of a balanced life, and there are genuine health benefits to doing nothing.
“Being lazy from time to time. Sleeping in. Just doing nothing. There are so many ‘hustle’ adds and posters everywhere. My GF and some of my friends fill so much their schedule that there is barely any time for rest or enjoying a book or a game or smth. Me, having pretty busy everyday life I always make sure to have at least 10 or more hours a week to do nothing productive. Enjoy life, nature, friends, alone time, watch stupid videos, play games.”
“It’s funny, when I was younger I had a ton of free time, and always felt like it was important to be productive and make use of it. Often a bit of guilt if I sat around for hours. Now my days and weekends are filled with responsibilities and events and things going on without me even explicitly trying to fill them, and I find that anytime I have nothing to do feels amazing. If I happen to get a day where I’m totally by myself and nothing is planned I will happily play 8 hours of video games and not feel like a moment was wasted.”
“Near my house, there’s a small meadow sourrounded by trees, where you can’t hear any sounds from the nearby village and road. In summer it’s just leaves rustling and insects buzzing. I go there every now and then, kick off my shoes, lie on a blanket in the shade and think of nothing.
My wife and kids don’t get how I can just doze off and spend an entire sunny summer afternoon just being at ease with myself, but it recharges my batteries like nothing else does.”
Talking to yourself
Traditionally speaking, talking to yourself in public has been seen as an oddity at best and a sign of a mental disorder at worst. But research shows that talking out loud to yourself can actually help with organization, focus and attention, emotional regulation and more.
“Talking to yourself, although it can be taken as a sign of loneliness, also helps you concentrate and organize ideas, of course, without overdoing it.”
“Ppl call me crazy for it but this is what gets me clarity so f them lol. Talking to ourselves is one of the best ways to understand the situation/idea/whatever it is as much as it helps us to understand our own selves and well,who wouldn’t want to have a good relationship with their own selves?”
“I do this when driving alone! Helps me process my emotions and thoughts.”
“Talking to yourself! People think it’s weird or a sign of being scatterbrained, but honestly, it’s super helpful. Whether I’m working through a problem, organizing my thoughts, or just giving myself a pep talk, it makes things clearer. Saying things out loud helps me process info better and stay focused. Plus, it’s like having a personal brainstorming session. So yeah, if you catch me chatting with myself, just know I’m getting stuff done!”
Staying up late
Ben Franklin famously said, “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” and people have run with that for centuries. But there’s no inherent virtue in going to bed early and waking up early, and some people’s natural rhythms put them on a later cycle. Not only that, but some research shows that night owls have superior cognitive function compared to early birds. (Don’t worry, morning larks. You’re still awesome.)
“Staying up late. Some people have different circadian rhythms and it makes evolutionary sense that in order for a population to thrive you couldn’t all be asleep at once.”
“Took me a life time to figure this out. Growing up I always struggled to make it to school without having a disgusting lack of sleep. Often I’d be in bed at 1230-1 am and have to be up at 6.
That habit made its way into adult life when I graduated college and got myself a 9-5. I remember having the worst anxiety on Sunday because Friday/saturday I was actually able to sleep from 2 am till 9 am, but Sunday I’d have to try and force myself back to sleep early.
Then five years ago I got a bartending job. At first I worked from 9 pm till 2 am, but going to bed at 3-4 am wasn’t optimal. Eventually I found work where I was leaving work at 930-10 pm. Perfect. Now I have time before and after work to relax, I go in for six hours, make $200-300 and come home.
Work has never been more relaxing. And I’ll never sacrifice my sleep for the sake of working “normal” hours.”
“There’s also the fact that prior to the industrial revolution, most cultures had two sleeps technically. You would wake up for 1-3 hours in the middle of the night, they called it “the watch”. We spent eons sleeping and waking this way, only stopped about 130 years ago. The negative effects are showing.”
Gaming
Back in the 80s and 90s, grownups were convinced that video games were going to be the downfall of the world. The research is always evolving on this front, but what we have learned is that moderate video game playing can actually have some benefits. For instance, one study of nearly 2,000 kids found that playing video games for three hours a day was correlated with better performance on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory than never playing video games. All things in moderation, of course, but gaming itself isn’t the boogeyman it was made out to be.
“Gaming (in moderation). Studies have shown it improves problem solving, critical thinking, multi tasking, decision making, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, memory, and concentration.”
“Video games. Proven to relieve stress and tension, and is an acceptable outlet for your emotions which doesn’t hurt any real people.”
“Most ppl who criticise games who play you much would then go on to scroll Instagram brain rot for just as much time per day. Out of the two, excessive gaming is much better than excessive social feed.”
“Gaming is healthy – so long as it doesn’t prevent you from a variety of other healthy activities!”
Maybe it’s time to rethink a lot of our behaviors that have been labeled as bad habits but might actually be good.
