I’m a GP – six everyday habits that could be quietly affecting your health

If we are being honest, then we probably know deep down when we are doing something that isn’t great for our health; it just doesn’t feel right. But there are some things that might fly under the radar when it comes to negatively impacting our physical, mental or emotional health. We might not notice those habits quietly stacking up and becoming stronger over time, until they result in a negative outcome for us. So, what are some of these habits, and how can we notice them a little bit sooner? Shorts 1) Too much caffeine We might think that reaching for that coffee, tea or cola isn’t going to matter much; why should it? But actually, too much caffeine long term can have a big impact on our physical and mental health. Why? Because caffeine is a natural stimulant which means it makes us feel more alert. From the time we wake, our brain starts burning energy and produces adenosine as a waste product of all of this activity. Normally, adenosine binds to things called receptors in our brains which reduces how active our brain can continue to be, and slows us down, so we feel tired and builds “sleep pressure” (the desire and need for us to sleep). This is a natural and healthy process. Caffeine alters this process by blocking adenosine receptors, so we don’t have that natural feeling of needing to sleep, even when our brains have had enough and need a rest. UK guidelines advise that for non-pregnant adults up to 400mg of caffeine per day is generally safe, with a 200ml cup of instant coffee containing about 90mg and a 220ml standard black tea containing about 50mg. Mentally, too much caffeine can cause you anxiety, agitation, and sleeplessness, and a feeling of being tired without being able to feel mentally tired. Physically, it can cause diarrhoea, palpitations and a temporary spike in your blood pressure. Watch how much caffeine you are drinking, or eating (in dark or milk chocolate) and when; caffeine takes about five hours to reduce by half levels in your body, so try not to have any caffeinated drinks after midday so that you can sleep well. 2) Screen time Reaching for your phone just to check that last message/doomscroll/finish that TV series may seem harmless, but evidence has built around just how damaging this can be – and not just before bedtime. Screens emit blue light and this prevents our brains from making melatonin (our sleep hormone) which regulates when and how long we sleep for, as well as the quality of our sleep. Poor sleep – or not enough sleep – over a long period can increase our risk of immune problems, obesity, developing low mood or anxiety, cardiovascular conditions and can even affect our ability to concentrate. Using screens throughout the day can cause eye strain, poor posture and musculoskeletal problems, as well as mental fatigue and a reduced attention span. Look at your levels of screen time per day, set boundaries around when and how you use your phone, ensure regular breaks for your eyes (look at something 20ft away, every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds), leave your phone behind in some situations, turn notifications off and prioritise doing things in real life and outside as much as you can. 3) Chronic procrastination If you find it difficult to get things done and just keep putting things off, you aren’t the only one; research has found that 20-25 per cent of adults are chronic procrastinators. It may just seem like a small or annoying personality trait, but long term it can cause have a significant impact on our mental and emotional health. Some research studies have shown a link between procrastinators and depression and anxiety, increased levels of stress and disrupted sleep, which long term can increase the risk of certain cardiovascular conditions. Researchers don’t know if procrastination leads to these conditions, or the other way around. If you tend to leave things to later that you could do today, then ask yourself why; is it anxiety, fear, lack of confidence or resource to complete a task, or difficulty in concentrating? There is often a theme to why we don’t act on certain things straight away. Identify what you could do to turn any of these around. Other practical strategies include setting a countdown of five minutes to start a task, tackling the hardest task first, setting boundaries around how long to work on something for, rewarding yourself for completed tasks and and removing distractions from your immediate environment. Try not to do other things while eating (Photo: damircudic/Getty/E+) 4) Eating while doing something else Scrolling on your phone, watching the latest episode of your favourite programme or working while eating? It’s more common than you think. Up to 72 per cent of us watch something, up to 35 per cent are on their phones and up to 62 per cent of us eat at our desks. Most of us do not concentrate solely on eating while we are doing it. It may not seem like a bad habit, but if we do this, we are more likely to overeat because we are distracted from the cues our body and brain give us that we are full. It can also impact our digestion because we tend to eat faster, and can feel more bloated or not chew our food as much as we should. Try breaking that habit slowly by changing how you eat; start with just a couple of meals per week, and notice the difference. How much do you eat, how do you feel about what you are eating, have you enjoyed the experience more, and do you feel less bloated at the end of the meal? Take your time and use your senses to really taste and smell everything on your plate; mindful eating really can improve your physical and mental health when it comes to our relationship with food. 5) Constant multitasking You might think you are being ultra efficient and productive by doing lots of things at the same time. Well, sorry, but I have some bad news for you; it is actually really damaging. Research has shown that switching from task to task can reduce our productivity by 40 per cent, we are 50 per cent more likely to make mistakes, we experience higher levels of stress, are more likely to experience burnout mentally, and have less focus and ability to remember. Even if you are totally overwhelmed and feel like the only way to get through things is to multitask, don’t. Instead, delegate, prioritise, focus on one thing at a time, remove distractions, say no, and slow down enough to do one thing at a time. It will pay dividends in future for your health. 6) Turning up the volume Our hearing is one of the last things we think about taking care of – until we have a problem with it. The world we live in encourages us to surround ourselves with noise all the time; there are so many things we can listen to, there are better and louder headphones, and we may be doing remote work with headsets. Our ears do not exist in isolation; our hearing is absolutely integrated with our memory and cognition, so we need to look after it. Notice how many hours you have your headphones in, notice how loud you have the volume up in the car or on the TV or when listening to music. Listening to any sound at high volume can cause permanent hearing damage. Go for a baseline hearing check, get advice about how you listen to sound and music from the hearing specialist and have a break from headphones and, more importantly, from noise all together. This is not just helpful for your hearing health, but also for your emotional and mental health.