Framework · Katy Milkman and colleagues
Fresh starts and temptation bundling
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Temporal landmarks give people a boost to start aspirational behaviour, and pairing a hard habit with a treat allowed only during it increases follow-through.
How to use it with a real habit
- Start or restart on a meaningful date.
- Reserve a treat for one hard habit.
- Test ideas as personal experiments.
What the evidence says
Research-supported: Good studies support it, but there are fewer of them, the effects are modest, or they come from a narrow set of situations.
Supported by field experiments and a large megastudy; effects often fade after programmes end.
Limits
- Boosts help starting more than maintaining.
Sources
- Dai, Milkman & Riis (2014). The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior. Management Science. doi:10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901
- Milkman, Minson & Volpp (2014). Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling. Management Science. doi:10.1287/mnsc.2013.1784
- Milkman, Gromet, Ho, Kay, Lee, Pandiloski and colleagues (2021). Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04128-4
- How to Change — Katy Milkman (2021)
Related techniques
- Use a fresh start — Begin on a meaningful new start — a Monday, a month, a birthday — to give change a boost. (Research-supported)
- Temptation bundling — Allow yourself something you love only while doing the habit. (Research-supported)
- Reward the comeback — Make returning after a miss feel good, not guilty. (Emerging)