After digging my way out of the stacks of boxes from the move, I’m ready to get back to the blog. Thanks so much to Sandy Beckwith for so ably holding down the digital fort for me. Now that you’ve had a taste of her nonprofit PR wisdom, I hope you will check out her book Publicity for Nonprofits: Generating Media Exposure that Leads to Awareness, Growth and Contributions. Sandy recently started a blog at Amazon connected to her book, and I look forward to reading her future posts.
It’s hard to get back into a rhythm when something big like a move, an illness, or even summer vacation comes along to put a wrench in your routine. My exercise and healthy eating habits have definitely suffered from the interruption.
This got me thinking about how important it is, when promoting a behavior change, to help people figure out how to incorporate it into their daily routine. So, people who have to remember to take a pill should tie the action to something they do every day like brushing their teeth or eating breakfast. Many people need to exercise first thing in the morning, or they will never get to it. The fire department suggests replacing your smoke detector batteries when you change the clocks for daylight saving time.
Finding a definite, recurring event on which to tie the behavior will make it much easier for people to remember it and build it into their lives. Now if only I could find the box with my tennis shoes in it.
Photo Credit: lane collins
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment that people need to be shown how to integrate change and impact into their daily routine. That’s why we do what we do at CoolPeopleCare.
We think that if people are shown how they can make a difference as part of their day, they just might act.
Keep up the good analysis!
Thanks for letting us know about your site, Sam. I love the concept!