I have always hated flossing and I am guessing I am not alone. I did it once a week for good measure, not including the frantic flossing the week before the dentist visits.

Well, a friend told me that if I floss every day, there are other great side effects. She suggested that her allergy symptoms went away after a week of flossing. I suffer from bad allergies and frequently have trouble hearing because I get so stuffed up.

So I started, and you know what? My hearing is back to normal. It made me realize that sometimes we forget all of the side benefits of good habits.

Are there any areas I could improve my work with good habits that have unintended side effects?

I am sure there are. Some of the Good Habits I could work on are below.

Databases: I have a love/hate relationship with them.

Paper resumes: Yes, I am dating myself on this one, but I miss printing resumes. I get excited when I have an excuse to print.

Follow up: Not with current candidate, that I am fanatical about. But I sometimes forget to touch base with people who I worked with 6, 12, 24 months ago.

Addicted to "the ding"; I know it is terribly inefficient to look at email the minute it comes in. I set up processes to avoid this, schedule time to check email, etc., but I love doing it.

Sometimes good habits have unintended good benefits. Sometimes they are just good habits. Either way, it is probably a good idea to make changes just to find out once in a while.