James Clear’s New Strategy on Removing Bad Habits
Do people generally care more about building a good habit or removing a bad one? One source of evidence is Google search.
As we can see, people are more interested in getting rid of their bad habits. So if getting rid of a bad habit is your goal, I have some counterintuitive advice. Work on building up a good habit instead.
This doesn't apply to every bad habit but many can be limited by a strategy of overwhelming them with good habits.
James Clear, in the book “Atomic Habits,” preached a strategy of using friction (make the habit less obvious and harder to perform) to help rid of a bad habit. However, recently, he has emphasized a different approach. Overcrowd your bad habits with good ones.
“Rather than worrying about the bad habits, focus on building up the good ones. Let the good planets overcrowd out the bad ones”.
Another author and behavioral scientist, BJ Fogg of the book “Tiny Habits”, illustrates a similar point. His bedtime procrastination went away when he consciously made beach surfing an early morning routine. When you have a good habit like that, there is no room to sleep late. It's all about creating a healthier behavior that is incompatible with your bad one.
If you think about it, you have probably already used this type of strategy in your life. Starting a new morning workout routine means getting to the gym early enough to work out before going into the office. Or dialing in your nutrition or sleep to be able to recover from a long run. Bad habits end up being pushed aside for good ones.
When we think about why are on our phones so much or watching TV, ask "what should I be doing instead? What replacement activity can I insert?"
Maybe you want to read more? That might mean an hour of reading every day. That hour has to come from somewhere. It usually comes from other relaxed leisure activities that you deem “bad” like TV watching.
I use to be the person who tried all the hacks to stop wasting time on the internet. Web blockers, deleting apps, turning on airplane mode. Those have a limited shelf life. At some point, I realized I WANTED to be distracted by the internet. I didn't have anything better to do.
The reality is that breaking a bad habit is extremely difficult. Rather than complete extinction, a 50-60 % reduction with a replacement habit, makes it easier to feel “ok” about your bad habit.
