So, you have chosen a habit to change.  You have set your intention.  You have read about the science behind habit formation and have analyzed the ways in which your habits have become ingrained in your brain’s pathways.  Now it is time to use this information to create a new process—a new habit loop.

In his book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, Duhigg (2012) views the habit loop as the crucial component in routines.  You can use this idea to generate your own personal roadmap to successfully alter your behavior.  Furthermore, we will provide step-by-step instructions for doing so to simplify the process.

Directions:

First, I suggest you take out paper, pens, and crayons.  Let’s make this fun!

Next, draw a chart with a column for your current habit, another for the new habit you wish to create, and rows for their related cues, routines, and rewards. Notice that the cue will be the same for the current and new habit. You are working to change the routine and reward related to that cue so that your new habit will stick. Your chart might look something like this (leave plenty of space to fill in information):

Now, identify the cue, the routine, and the reward for the habit you are working to change.

• A cue is that part of the situation that triggers you to engage in your action.Now, identify the cue, the routine, and the reward for the habit you are working to change.
• A routine is the set of behaviors that the habit you are targeting for change comprises.
• The reward satisfies a need or craving.  It may not be immediately obvious.  Try brainstorming ideas for what you might be gaining (or avoiding) as a result of your current habit. As discussed in our previous article on conditioning, this may be positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement.

You are beginning to look at your habits in a new way.  Breaking down the pattern will be essential for building new behavior, which will lead to a new habit over time.  Let’s examine what this might look like:

For example, when you sit down to complete tasks at the computer (be it writing a paper, working on finances, producing a report for work, etc), after about 15 minutes, you may find yourself surfing the web or checking Facebook instead, despite telling yourself you are going to stay on task. In this case, your cue is time spent at the computer. Your routine may include distracting thoughts about how many likes your latest status update may have garnered by now, a sense of building frustration or boredom as you try to complete your task, and the resulting action of opening a browser or Facebook. Your reward may include the negative reinforcement of no longer engaging in a boring or frustrating task and the positive reinforcement of a dopamine release in your brain resulting from the pleasurable stimulus of all those Facebook notifications and likes.

You may notice that this routine can have cognitive, emotional, and physical elements.  Thus, to be effective in change, it is important to notice all these potential elements.  It is easy to get overwhelmed when you start thinking about all that is involved in the simplest of behaviors.  You may even start to wonder if all this is really necessary just to change a habit, or you may become frustrated at your tendency to fall into bad habits so quickly.  It can help to know that scientists have found that this tendency is normal.  As Duhigg notes, “the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort” (2012).  So, left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit.

However, carefully analyzing the components of the habits you wish to change allows you to use this natural tendency of your brain to your advantage. In the above example, you may have observed that once you open Facebook, you become absorbed and end up off-task for quite some time. Once you finally decide you really are going to close Facebook (after scrolling down the newsfeed just one more time) and get back on task, you may be so tired of sitting at computer that you get up and leave, delaying your task even more. Your suffering productivity levels prompt you to try to change this habit, but simply telling yourself you’re going to sit down and stay on task until you are completely finished will likely not be enough to help you truly change your habit. You will still need to contend with growing boredom or frustration in some way. Instead of trying to force yourself to stay on task, it may help to get up from the computer and stretch for 5 to 10 minutes. Doing so can give you the break you need to help with any boredom or frustration while physically removing you from the computer and temptation to surf the web or open Facebook. Then, you will be ready to refocus. Instead of becoming distracted for hours on end and eventually giving up on your task, this ability to take a limited break and then refocus will help you finish the task, yielding the reward of a sense of accomplishment and time to relax. Charting your plan for this can help you succeed in your attempt. A pictorial filling-in of the above chart may look something like this:

If you get stuck trying to create your new habit loop, you may benefit from a refresher on understanding the science behind the mechanics of these elements.  Consider rereading the previous article “Understanding the Science behind Habits Will Help Propel Your Change.” 

Through our understanding of the basic science of motivational psychology, we can transform detrimental patterns and thereby develop healthier, more productive patterns of behavior that become new habits!