Watch This: A Simple Way to Break a Bad Habit

Smoking. Eating junk food when you’re stressed out. Checking your email to distract yourself from work. Compulsively responding to a text message while driving.

We’ve all got bad habits. They tend to be tough to quit — but it turns out many of us may be doing it wrong.

Trying to force change upon yourself is a tough row to hoe, says psychiatrist Judson Brewer, author of “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love -- Why We Get Hooked & How We Can Break Bad Habits.”

Brewer, the director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, argues that mindfulness offers a simpler route to kicking bad habits.

Watch this video from TED Talks to hear Brewer’s explanation of how bad habits form in the first place and how mindfulness can aid you in breaking habits:

What’s your experience with attempting to quit bad habits? Share it with us by commenting below or on the Money Talks News Facebook page.