I'm doing 19 things
OK, I was THIS close to completing this one. But then I bit off one nail, then another, and another… now I’m almost back to the way things were :( (with a few exceptions). Anyway, I learned a few things on the way. Here are some tips:
1. Grow one nail at a time (and allow yourself to bite the others that you haven’t decided to grow yet). Eventually, all nails have grown out. However, this probably increases the time it will takes for all nails to be unbitten. So alternatively:
2. Have one or a few “victim” nails. Let all nails grow except one or two, which, if you absolutely must, you can bite.
3. When the urge comes, give your hands something else to do. Simply playing with a pen can be enough.
4. Set goals. Similar to point 2, but on your own terms. If you fail, come up with some way to punish yourself.
5. Put something disgusting on your nails. If you’re a girl, that should be easy. For us guys who don’t want to look like girls, there’s transparent things to put on your nails that taste awful, for the purpose of not biting your nails.
6. Cut the nails when they are long enough. Make sure to cut them before you start biting them off again. To begin with, this might be good to do a bit earlier than your “goal length”. Take it one step at a time.
7. Cut the nails to even them. Often, when a bitten nail grows back out, it’s uneven and there are little pieces just begging to be bit off. Cut these early! (Even if the nails are still rather short). If the nails are even, the urge to bite them will decrease.
8. And the final tip: BITING YOUR NAILS IS DISGUSTING! STOP IT!
