Make it Obvi
Today, let’s focus on creating an environment that makes cues obvious.
“ it’s time for us to discuss a few strategies to optimize this process and make it even easier to stick with your new habit day in and day out. One of the simplest ways to do this is to make the cues that trigger and prompt your habits as obvious and as visible as possible. Every habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely to notice the cues that stand out. Creating obvious visual cues can draw your attention toward your desired habit.“ - James Clear
You might need to redesign our environment to help trigger or remind yourself about the 2-minute version of the behavior or habit you are trying to build. If there is no obvious cue to trigger a habit, it can be difficult to remember.
For example, if you bought fruits and veggies and hid them away in the fridge, it might not be easy to remember to cut them up into serving sizes. Move the veggies to an eye level shelf in the frig so that when you open the door, it sparks the habit. Seeing the veggies would make that habit difficult to ignore. Even if the easy 2 minute or less version is bagging some carrots for tomorrow’s lunch.
You might need to re-design your environment to instill good habits as well. Move the plan overs down a shelf and the condiments to the side doors. Give the fruits and veggies the prime real estate in your fridge. So, you see them! They basically slap you in the face and say, “cut me up!”
Here’s an idea I have recently implemented. I put my vitamins in a drawer in the bathroom, thinking my cue would be getting up and using the bathroom to take my vitamins. Part of the problem was, I needed to eat and take the vitamins with food, and I didn’t want the bottles in the kitchen, I think that looks cluttered. The problem was, I didn’t open the drawer and get today’s vitamins, cause all I could think of was getting some coffee, I didn’t get the cue.
On vacation I noticed I was good, even great at taking my vitamins! Why, I had them all set up in a travel pill box. I’d see the box in the morning by my glam stuff. I’d put them in my pocket or purse and take them to breakfast. The cue was right there! How easy! Less than 2 minutes to do! That was my “gateway habit”, the easy one to trigger the habit of taking my vitamins daily.
So, when I got home, I filled my travel pill case and put it on my make-up table, just like on vacation. Now, when I sit down to brush my hair, my vitamins are there and ready to take! It was an easy environmental change that happened that made all the difference. It now takes me less than 2 minutes to take my vitamins, so even on the run, I can remember. The bigger habit that has grown from that is filling the case weekly, and then putting vitamins on the list if I am running low. It has triggered a bigger habit and it is so easy now!
My implementation intention was: “I will take my vitamins after I eat something and before I brush my hair in the morning.” The part I was missing until I put my vitamins in the travel pill container on my make-up table was that they were in the drawer in the bathroom, I didn’t see them, no cue to remind me. Now that I changed my environment and I have the vitamins all set up in my glam space, I don’t miss a day! The cue is now obvious.
Environment design was the strategy that got me over the hump.
Last email I reminded you to set up some cues to help support your goal or habit. Here are a few more ways that you can reinforce your intentions and redesign your environment to make your habit happen. MAKE THE CUES OBVIOUS!
If you want to remember to do five burpees before you get in the shower, add a Post-It note to the shower door.
If you want to remember to refill your water bottle every time it’s more than halfway empty, use a Sharpie to draw a small line at the halfway mark on the water bottle.
If you want to remember to write in your journal for five minutes at 7am, store the journal on the kitchen table so you see it when you sit down for breakfast every morning.
If you want to remember to read a book instead of looking at your phone every time you’re bored, set your phone’s lock screen photo to be a photo of the book you’re trying to finish.
If you want to remember to go for a run every morning, lay out your workout clothes and shoes the night before.
If you want to remember to practice your Spanish, lay out your flash cards on the kitchen table so you can flip through them as you eat.
Chew on this thought: If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, you need to make the cue a big part of your environment. Make sure the best choice is the most obvious one. In the long-run (and often in the short-run), your willpower (or remember power) will not beat your environment.
You can alter the spaces where you live and work to increase your exposure to positive cues. Making a better decision is easy, natural, when the cues for good habits are right in front of you.