As I was preparing to head out to do some errands today, I put my phone in my right pants pocket even though I usually (read: always) carry it in my left pants pocket.  Little did I know that this small change would set off a chain-reaction of events that would change my life forever.

Perhaps it was simply due to laziness, but instead of moving my phone to its standard pocket, I put my wallet and keys into my left pocket (as opposed to their usual place in my right pocket) and walked out the door.

Standing outside of my door, I habitually reached into my right pocket for my keys and then remembered that they were currently in my left pocket.  Moments later I had my keys in hand and locked the door, but there was a moment where my brain resisted acceptance of this new reality. I had to actually think about what I was doing! You know what? I kind of liked it.

This made me think about how often we do things a certain way just because we’ve done them that way for so long.  Was I naturally more adept at using a key with my right hand?  Was there really a reason why I usually keep my phone in my left pocket?  I took my phone out of my pocket and raised it to my (right) ear a couple of times and discovered that it wasn’t any more difficult to handle the phone with my right hand instead of my left.  Nonetheless, I did feel some mental resistance to putting the phone back into my right pocket– it just felt more “comfortable” to put it in my left pocket.

Don’t get too comfortable! Think about why you do things the way you do. You never know, you might just find a better way to do something.

5 more small things you can do to keep your mind sharp:

1. Sleep with your head at the other end of the bed
2. Take a walk each day in a different direction
3. Take a different route on your drive home from work
4. Turn off the TV (or computer)
5. Have dessert before the main course (remember, these should be fun!)