So much of what we do is governed by subconscious interactions in our brains. While reading The Power of Habit, I’m becoming aware of so many actions left to my subconscious, as well as what is compelling my subconscious.
The focus of this reflection is currently my morning routine. I wake up to my alarm, hit snooze a few times, eventually get out of bed after browsing my phone for a bit, shower, then make my way to the coffee machine. I’ve never given any of this active thought, and I’m realizing that I’ve never given it any thought at all. I move around like a zombie and complete my morning routine entirely autonomously. Now at least, I observe myself as I move through the motions, and I can attribute my behavior to something called the habit loop.
Cue, routine, reward.
We’re all familiar with the routine of a habit. Personally, I thought that was what the entire habit was. However, the anatomy of the habit is more complicated. In order for the action of the routine to occur, it needs to be triggered by a cue and incentivized by a reward. As soon as I wake up, I’m faced with a cue. My alarm rings and I fall into the routine of hitting snooze, being immediately rewarded by returning to sleep. With this knowledge, I’ve begun setting up my alarm on the other side of the room. Altering the clue to add friction to the routine is helping me get up more easily, and I’ve been experimenting with rewards. Initially, I tried setting a small tray of candies by the alarm clock to help close the habit loop, injecting me with some dopamine and keeping me awake. I found that I nibble on the candies occasionally throughout the day, so I changed the reward to a hearty stretch. It releases dopamine as well, so hopefully, it will get incorporated into the routine and I will begin to do this autonomously.
There are so many small habits that I am noticing, but the book warns against changing things too drastically and advises focusing on manageable habit modifications to start. I sincerely hope to gain the ability to actively design the habits that govern my life. It’s intoxicating to consider the potential of automating behaviors that I avoid due to their tedious or unpleasant nature.