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Home > Early Risers Podcast > TT13 - Using 'Friction' To Break Bad Habits
Podcast: Early Risers Podcast
Episode:

TT13 - Using 'Friction' To Break Bad Habits
Category: Health
Duration: 00:08:37
Publish Date: 2018-06-14 03:00:00
Description: Get Your Free Better Sleep Blueprint

One of the hardest things to do in life is to overcome a bad habit. After weeks, months, or even years of doing something over and over, it becomes a strong part of our life. If we really want to break a habit, it's up to us to create friction to stop it.

What is friction?

Friction is the act of making it more difficult for us to perform that habit. It requires a deep analysis of where, when, why, and how you perform a habit, and then manipulating your environment to make the process of doing that habit more exhausting.

Imagine you want to check Facebook, and the only way for you to do so is to walk twenty minutes to your local library, wait in line for a computer, and then pay $10 per minute to use their internet. Odds are you'd give up Facebook!

Every day our attention span decreases, and if it takes more effort to carry out the habit than is worth it, we won't do so. If we really want to decrease the amount we perform the habit or even cut it out of our life completely, it's up to us to create as much friction as we possibly can.

Let me give you an example. Say that you find yourself compulsively checking Facebook every ten or so minutes. You've tried to cut back before, but always seem to find yourself back in that same old rut. So how do you make it more exhausting to check Facebook?

Step 1: Log out of Facebook - if every time you want to check your timeline you need to enter your password, you're less likely to find yourself lost in the application.

Step 2: Change your password - If your password is changed, it's going to interrupt your daily routine, and again, bring your attention back to your goal. If you really want to take it to the next level, change your password to something very difficult to remember and write it down. Then...

Step 3: Hide your password - Okay, don't necessarily hide it. If you don't know how to log in, there's not really a point of doing this exercise. Instead, put it in a spot that's hard to get to. Maybe shove it under a bunch of papers in that cluttered desk that you have. Maybe give it to your friend to keep at their house. Just put it in a spot that takes effort to get to.

Whenever we have a bad habit in our life, there is most likely a way to give up our time or our money to perform that habit. If you can maximize the effectiveness of this system, you should be in a place where you don't even have to think twice about avoiding the habit.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

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Note: This concept was taken from Dan Silvestre.
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