Habit Building Cheatsheet
How to Create a Good Habit (Atomic Habits)
The 1st Law: Make It Obvious
1.1: Fill out the Habits Scorecard. Write down your current behaviors to become aware of them.
1.2: Use Implementation Intentions: “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
1.3: Use Habit Stacking: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”
1.4: Design your environment. Make the cues of good habits obvious and visible.
The 2nd Law: Make It Attractive
2.1: Use Temptation Bundling. Pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
2.2: Join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.
2.3: Create a motivational ritual. Do something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.
The 3rd Law: Make It Easy
3.1: Reduce friction. Decrease the number of steps between you and your good habits.
3.2: Prime the environment. Prepare your environment to make future actions easier.
3.3: Master the decisive moment. Optimize the small choices that deliver outsized impact.
3.4: Use the two-minute rule. Downscale your habits until they can be done in two-minutes or less.
3.5: Automate your habits. Invest in technology and onetime purchases that lock in future behavior.
The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying
4.1: Use reinforcement. Give yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
4.2: Make “doing nothing” enjoyable. When avoiding a bad habit, design a way to see the benefits.
4.3: Use a habit tracker. Keep track of your habit streak and don’t “break the chain.”
4.4: Never miss twice. When you forget to do a habit, make sure you get back on track immediately.
How to Break a Bad Habit
Inversion of the 1st Law: Make It Invisible
1.5: Reduce exposure. Remove the cues of your bad habits from your environment.
Inversion of the 2nd Law: Make It Unattractive
2.4: Reframe your mindset. Highlight the benefits of avoiding your bad habits.
Inversion of the 3rd Law: Make It Difficult
3.6: Increase friction. Increase the number of steps between you and your bad habits.
3.7: Use a commitment device. Restrict your future choices to the ones that benefit you.
Inversion of the 4th Law: Make It Unsatisfying
4.5: Get an accountability partner. Ask someone to watch your behavior.
4.6: Create a habit contract. Make the costs of your bad habits public and painful.
Biohacker Newsletter: Six-step science-based method to consciously change your habits:
1. Diagnose/define your habit
Figure out the basic components of habit formation:
- The cue (the feeling, time, or location that triggers your habit)
- The routine (the habit itself)
- The reward (the craving the habit satisfies)
2. Create a new environment
Moving into a new place diminishes all the environmental cues. For example, when on a vacation or when doing something totally different from your normal routines, are optimal times for breaking a habit.
For example, students who move into a new university are more likely to change their habits than students who do not move. This is completely due to not being exposed to familiar cues.
3. Focus on what you will do (not what you won’t do)
When trying to stop or quit a routine or habit, many people often concentrate on stopping the routine. This usually never works. Instead, you should teach your brain new routines and habits and thus eventually overriding old habits.
According to psychology research, this is due to the fact that pursuing negative goals is associated with feelings of incompetence, decreased self-esteem, and less satisfaction with progress. It is simply much easier to concentrate on a positive new goal and create a totally new habit.
4. Create a substitution you love
Because it is often very hard to stop a habit altogether creating a substitution, a new habit. Once a habit is formed it is instinctual for completing the routine once the cue is recognized and the brain craves the reward. Here is the formula for success:
- Keep the old cue
- Insert a new routine
- Deliver the reward
For example, if you usually go to Facebook when having a break at work, instead of going into Facebook talk with your co-worker and create this way a new routine while still having the reward (social interaction & relaxation). Or for example, if you smoke, when having a break, instead of lighting a cigarette, go outside for a short walk. Both acts create a sense of break and catching up some “fresh air”.
5. Share your progress with friends (and/or family)
You are probably familiar with the saying “sharing is caring”. According to a study conducted by the Association of Science-Technology Centers, if you tell a friend you’re working towards a goal, you have a 65 % chance of completing it. But, if you set up a meeting or a coffee date with a friend to discuss your goal, your odds of completing it will rise to a staggering 95 %.
This is due to the fact that once making a public commitment to others people tend to feel obligated to follow through with it. Sharing the goal/new habit also leads to positive reinforcement.
6. Be kind to yourself
The fact is that no matter how committed you are, there is a strong possibility of breaking the new habit and going back to the old one. This happens especially when stressed out or in a hurry. The best thing to do then is to be gentle and kind to yourself: tomorrow is a new day.
Huberman: Email Summary
Part A: Huberman Lab Habits Program
Adjusting habits requires overcoming “limbic friction” (energy to overcome anxiety, procrastination and/or fatigue). You’ll want to leverage the natural rhythms of your brain and body to make it more likely that you will engage or maintain habits. This is made easy by dividing each 24-hour day-night cycle into three phases.
Phase 1
The first 0-8 hours after waking. Your brain and body are more action and focus oriented in Phase 1 due to elevated dopamine, adrenaline and cortisol levels). It’s easier to overcome limbic friction. Note: We are also more prone to distraction and reflexive multitasking at this time. Don’t succumb to that.
Set 1-4 habits for completion in Phase 1. These should be the habits that require energy and focus. Setting a window for completion (e.g., 45 min of focused reading, work, etc. in Phase 1) rather than a precise start and stop time lends flexibility to your schedule. For example, you might elect to exercise or write or study “after waking but before noon,” meaning it can be done at 8 a.m., 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. but definitely in Phase 1. Of course, if you can do it at the same time each day, great, but setting a broader window of opportunity can help given busy lives.
Phase 2
In the 9-15 hours after waking. Leverage your naturally higher serotonin levels and lower adrenaline, and engage in habits that don’t require you to overcome much limbic friction.
This is an excellent time for behaviors and thinking that can be completed with less focus. The sort that involves creative exploration is perfect: writing fiction, rough drafts, writing music, play of any kind, and experimentation. Or lower-focus requirement physical pursuits like Zone 2 cardio. Whereas Phase 1 is terrific for habits where precise execution is needed, Phase 2 is best for looser things—trying a new recipe, brainstorming, exploring a new approach to some aspect of work, a physical pursuit, relationships or learning.
“A lot of habit formation has to do with being in the right state of mind and being able to control your body and mind.”
Phase 3
16-24 hours after waking. This is when we reset our ability to overcome limbic friction by resting and sleeping.
- Avoid bright lights
- Sleep in a cool, dark room
- Explore supplementation (not melatonin) if needed
Part B: Program and Test Habit Change in Alternating Blocks
Pick six new habits to incorporate per day for 21 days, write them down and then aim to complete four to six of those per day. Mark them off each day on your calendar.
Do not fret about only doing four out of six of the new habits per day, and never compensate by doing more than six per day. A no-compensation system is best.
Merge this approach with the Phase 1, 2, 3 structure above to be in the best position to succeed. How will you know if you are succeeding? Take the next 21 days and track your behavior but not incorporating new habits.
So that’s 21 days of habit formation and 21 days of testing to see which habits actually became habits, then back to 21 days of habit formation, using your progress in the previous 21 days to determine if you can add more to your four to six per day list.
How do you know if you made a new habit?
The strength of a habit is dictated by how much limbic friction you need to overcome to perform the behavior and how much context-dependence there is—meaning, do you perform the habit no matter what or only when calm, rested or in the presence of others, caffeinated, etc.
Part C: Breaking Habits
To break a habit, you need to bring conscious awareness to the fact that you participated in the habit you are trying to break. Then, when you realize you did, you need to engage in positive behavior immediately afterward (Positive because they are good for us, not because we necessarily enjoy them). The specific behavior is less important than the fact that it comes immediately after the habit you’re trying to break and that it not be a negative behavior. Ten jumping jacks or pushups are good do-anywhere, positive behaviors.