Habit Building in 15 Minutes Per Day

Life seems so simple, when you turn your decision-making process over to habits. Whatever that habit is, whatever habit you have, you just “do it”. This is true whether that habit is exercise, going for a walk after dinner, or maybe the time of day you check your emails (which for some of us, is everyday, all day, Pavolvian pings driving the “reach for the phone”). Habits are powerful things-routinizations of life, that help us to cope and thrive. They automate parts of our lives, so we don’t have to think about them.

Habits are comforting, and they are boring. Imagine attending the same workplace for 30 consecutive years. You may feel you need this habit, but yet you may be smothered by it, but change is hard, so you stay.

It can be useful to think about how much of your day is driven by habit. Wake up, get out of bed (“drag a comb across” your head, if you are a Beatles fan), start the coffee, and so on. The phrase “creatures of habit” definitely applies to humans. So are you 50% driven by habits? Less? More?

Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow powerfully points out in many different ways that humans like to avoid thinking. Thinking takes energy, because it’s work. The more things we can turn over to habit, to routine, the better.

Mental or Environmental Cue> Activation of a Routine> which leads to a reward

Habits start with cues. In the case of addictive habits, like drinking or smoking, the cue is often something negative, like hunger, anger…