FE ATURE HABITS

BREAKING BAD HABITS

Take temptation out the equation

Knowing the basic psychology of what makes a habit a habit
can provide clues for how to break bad ones and create good
ones. To break a bad habit, a good place to start is to think
about the specific cues that trigger the habit and then see
if you can avoid them or make them less noticeable.
For instance, it sounds obvious, but if you want to break
the habit of checking social media when you get into bed,
the main trigger is probably the sight of your smartphone.
So to break the habit, remove the trigger (leave your phone
downstairs). Similarly, if you want to break the habit of
pouring yourself a glass of wine after work, consider the
trigger – is it the sight of the wine bottle in the fridge,
kind of pleasure or reward. But perhaps now your goals
have changed, or the pleasure provided is reduced, or you
no longer think that the reward justifies the behaviour.
For instance, the after-work glass of wine might have
helped you relax or served as a reward after a hard day.
If so, consider what other forms of relaxation or reward
you could give yourself instead.
The point is, breaking a bad habit will always be easier if
you substitute the unwanted behaviour with a new (more
desirable) behaviour that serves a similar function, than
if you just leave a gap or hole where the old habit used to be.

“BESIDES THE SPECIFIC

the wine glass on the shelf or something else? Hide these
triggers and you’ll find it easier to break the habit.
Besides the specific triggers, habits also tend to be

TRIGGERS, HABITS ALSO

embedded in a wider context or routine, so you can make
it easier to break a habit by altering them. How far you
go is up to you, but at the extreme would be things like

TEND TO BE EMBEDDED
moving house or changing job – anything that shakes up
the associations in your brain between specific situational
cues and past behaviours. (This is why you might find that

IN A WIDER CONTEXT
the habits you have at home lose their power when you
go on holiday, because the background cues and context
are often profoundly different.)

OR ROUTINE”
Another trick is to think about the original function
of the now unwanted habitual behaviour. It’s likely that
there was originally a purpose to it, or it provided some

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