If Only Your Brain Was the Size Of That Of an Ant You Could Easily Implement Habits

A year and a half ago I was introduced to something called Swarming or Swarm intelligence.

A big telecommunication company was actually mimicking ants to improve the performance of some of their products.

Now if a big telecommunication company is modeling behavior of ants and produce better products that way, there must be something worth looking at inside the head of ants.

Imagine for a moment that you are an ant. A worker ant - one of those responsible for bringing food back to the hill.

You have just found something edible that you want to bring back to the hill.

And before heading back you put Ant Rule #1 into action.

Ant Rule #1: If you find something edible you must mark the spot with a scent before heading back.

Simple rule - right?

So you leave a tiny drop to "mark the spot"

Once back at the hill you unload your loot and head out again to find more food.

Now as an ant you really don't have the massive mental capacity necessary to remember where you found the food.

Ant Rule #2 steps in.

Ant Rule #2: Head in the direction of the strongest scent from an "I found food here"-marker.

Simple rule - right?

So you head in the direction of the strongest scent.

It isn't the maker you left yourself, but apparently some of the other ants found food that was closer to the hill. Or maybe there was more food available, so more ants have visited and left more markers.

Anyway, you head for the food, leave a marker, head back to the hill, and then heads back out again.

But this time there is no food left at the marker, and you can't pick up the scent from other markers.

Ant Rule #3 steps in.

Ant Rule #3: If you don't know where food is, just start walking in a random direction.

So you pick a random direction and start walking.

A few minutes later you pick up the scent of an "I found food here"-marker - and you are back in business.

Now, listen closely: "When I snap my fingers you are no longer an ant"

SNAP!

Back in the realm of the humans? - good

So an ant uses only a few simple rules for bringing back food to the hill.

How many rules are in play when you bring food to the house?

Thousands I guess.

Get up in the morning, go to work, wait for paycheck, deposit paycheck, withdraw money from bank, compare offers, go to shop, find groceries, pay for the stuff, go home...

And these are only top-level rules/tasks - each of these break down into smaller and more complicated rules about how we get up in the morning, how we behave at work, how we compare offers etc.

Now you can't just live a simple life like the ant - the world we live and operate in is just too complex for that.

But you can easily apply Ant Rules to your daily life to make it easier.

And you can even use Ant Rules to create good habits.

Let's say you want to acquire good eating habits.

"Good eating habits" is a very complex entity, but what if you break it down into little Ant Rules?

Ant Rule #1: When given the choice: Always choose sparkling water instead of soda.

Ant Rule #2: Go for a walk right after eating supper.

Ant Rule #3: Eat fish on Mondays.

See, each of these rules are simple enough to be implemented with ease.

And they can be implemented gradually so you are not overwhelmed with "all the new stuff" in your new habit.

Another beauty of the simplicity of Ant Rules is that you can teach them to anybody.

How about your children?

Do they leave stuff around house?

And can it be a real challenge to get them to clean their *entire* room?

How about an Ant Rule that says "When you enter your room you must pick up one thing from the floor and put it in its right place"

Do you think you could get your kids to agree with just picking up one thing instead of cleaning up the entire room?

Now, I promised to talk about swarming and swarm intelligence, but one person with a set of Ant Rules can't really be considered a swarm?

So where do you find swarms of people?

In your home and at your workplace.

What if everybody lives by the rule of fixing just one thing when they enter a room? - how much simpler would you think it would be to keep a tidy place?

And how about at work?

Which Ant Rules can you think of that would fit into your workplace? - Rules that your team or co-workers could easily agree with and that would make you function more effectively as a team or make it a more pleasant place to work?

Copyright © Henrik Flensborg 2003.

About The Author

Henrik Flensborg is the author of "Beat Procrastination - Right Now!" - a free ebook that will reveal to you why and how you have been procrastinating - and what you can do about it.

Henrik also publishes the Growth Focus newsletter that will help you move forward in life and business. He also owns the website http://growth-focus.com/ where you will find this and many other articles from his newsletter.

---

Managing Time to Accomplish More

Time is inelastic. Despite what some of us persist in... Read More

Busy, Busy, Busy

?busy, busy, busy, busy, busy?busy, busy, bus? OK, slap me... Read More

Just Remind Yourself

This is one more article on "Organizing and Enjoying Your... Read More

10 Time-Saving Calendar & Scheduling Tips

Nowhere is the line drawn more clearly between 'Industrial brains'... Read More

Simple Strategies for Home Based Business Owners to Reduce Stress and be More Satisfied

Handle small emergencies fast: When a small emergency does pop... Read More

Delegate or Drown

Why waste your precious time working on tasks, which are... Read More

Top Ten Motivators

Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with... Read More

TIME, The Undervalued Resource

We are all born equal! We all have the same... Read More

Keeping YOUR Calendar Full

When do you want to make time for a networking... Read More

5 Result-Getting Time Management Tips

How often have you tried to manage your time in... Read More

Taking Time Off For Your Business

As a business owner, wouldn't it be great if you... Read More

First Things Last

Years ago clients would tell me they could not identify... Read More

21 Questions To Assess Your Readiness For Time Management

How many of us are guilty of "Putting the cart... Read More

Sharpen The Saw

Sometime ago, my lovely wife woke me up in the... Read More

Time Management: How To Get More Done

If you can regularly ask yourself "Am I regularly and... Read More

Is the Goal to Reach the Goal?

In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task... Read More

Beyond Time Management ? Seven Ways to Leverage Your Time for Greater Results

Most of us have a to-do list ? some of... Read More

Measure Your Time Against Active Inactivity

We don't realize many things we do until we draw... Read More

What To Do When Youre Short On Time And Long On Need!

Everyday life can present us with opportunities to make us... Read More

Isn?t It Time For You?

Does it seem like there is never enough time in... Read More

Work at Home Moms: Time Management Tips

"How do you DO it?!" If I had a dime... Read More

Organize Your Time

Most people want to start a home-based business to make... Read More

Make Time Work For You

Any habit of mind or body that interferes with taking... Read More

Nurturing Your Soul

Number Yourself: Count yourself as an important individual. You are... Read More

File It: Boost Your Productivity in Only 15 Minutes Per Week

Despite the best of intentions, most of us don't use... Read More

Low Tech Time Management

A simple kitchen gadget is transforming my life. I don't... Read More

7 Tips for Being Your Best Time Master

It is not enough if you are busy. The question... Read More

Where Do Your Priorities Fit?

An expert in time management was speaking to a group... Read More

Pacing Yourself Through Change

OK...let's assume that you're truly motivated to change. Great. But... Read More

Time Well Spent

It is common knowledge that creating and living according to... Read More

Time Management: Setting up your Schedule for Success

Would you describe yourself as extremely busy? Do you often... Read More

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last... Read More

Because Its Been Years Since Youve Seen a Blank Calendar

If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick... Read More