Habit technique · Environment & friction · 10–30 minutes

Make it harder

Add steps, distance or delay between you and the unwanted habit. Put a few extra steps, some distance or a short delay between you and an unwanted habit.

Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read

Put a few extra steps, some distance or a short delay between you and an unwanted habit.

Why it may help

Unwanted habits thrive on ease. A little friction interrupts the automatic start and gives your considered self a moment to choose.

When to use it

• An unwanted habit happens on autopilot
• The habit is always within reach
• You want to cut back without banning

How to apply it

1. Find where the habit is easiest.
2. Add one step: log out, move it away, put it in a box.
3. Keep the change mild enough that you won’t undo it.
4. Adjust after a week.

An example

Victor signs out of a game after each use, so playing is a choice rather than a reflex.

The common mistake

Adding so much friction you resent it and undo it.

Practise it

Add one speed bump to one unwanted habit.

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.

Restructuring the environment and increasing the cost of a behaviour are recognised techniques. Average effects of such changes are debated, but they are low-risk to try.

Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) codes: 12.1, 12.3, 14.1.

Sources

• Hollands, Shemilt, Marteau, Jebb, Kelly, Nakamura and colleagues (2013). Altering micro-environments to change population health behaviour: towards an evidence base for choice architecture interventions. BMC Public Health. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1218
• Maier, Bartoš, Stanley, Shanks, Harris & Wagenmakers (2022). No evidence for nudging after adjusting for publication bias. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi:10.1073/pnas.2200300119