In my experience you never know when you started a current habit until it’s too late.
This is how I wind up in losing streaks where I am staying up late, eating disappointing foods, smoking a lot, or drinking too often.
All it takes is one simple action, performed routinely without much thought… And then next thing you know, you’re stuck in a holding pattern. Apparently, the exact same thing can be said for critters. I never realized what a massive mistake I was making them by checking our thermostat every morning before we left the home for work. Honestly, I looked at the air temperature control device everyday by force of my own habit. It was routine for me to turn down the indoor air temperature before I left for labor everyday in the winter, so the boiler wouldn’t run all morning long in an empty home for no reason. I did the same thing in the summer time by turning up the air temperature so our a/c device got a break. I never thought much of this behavior, other than patting myself on the back for using my energy efficiently plus reducing my daily electricity bill while extending the life of my central heating plus cooling system. Apparently, however, my dog thought a lot of my thermostat habit. In fact, she directly correlated the thermostat adjustment to our departure from the house. Now, whenever she sees me touch the air temperature control device, she thinks that we’re headed out for the morning plus starts barking for hours if we never leave. Next week I am installing a smart thermostat so I can make the air quality adjustment secretly from my cellphone without frustratedting the whole household.
