How habits run on cues
Much of what you do each day runs on autopilot, set off by where you are and what just happened. That's why willpower alone rarely changes it.
Key takeaways
- When you repeat something in the same situation, the situation starts to trigger it, with little thought.
- Good intentions often lose to old habits because the cue fires before the intention comes to mind.
- Habits change more easily when you change the cue than when you try harder.
Autopilot
Think about this morning. You probably didn't decide to check your phone, put the kettle on, or take the same route to the bathroom. You just did. A large share of what people do each day is habit: the same action, in the same place, at the same time, with their mind somewhere else.
Habits form when you repeat something in a stable situation and it pays off. Over time, the situation itself starts the behavior: picking up your phone when you sit on the sofa, reaching for a snack when you open the fridge. As this happens, control shifts from parts of the brain involved in planning to ones that run routines, which is why habits feel so automatic.
Why willpower struggles
Habits don't wait for a decision. The cue fires, and the behavior is under way before your good intention shows up. That's why people keep doing a habit even after they've stopped enjoying it, or decided to stop.
It's also why the people who seem to have the most self-control often aren't resisting more. They've arranged their lives so they have less to resist.
Building a new one
New habits form the same way: repetition, in the same situation. It takes longer than the popular 21 days. In one study it took about two months on average, with a wide range, and missing the odd day didn't undo it.
Ali wants to stop checking his phone the moment he wakes up. He's tried promising himself every night. What's most likely to work?
Sources and further reading
- Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281-1297.
- Wood, W., & Rünger, D. (2016). Psychology of habit. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 289-314.
- Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.
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