Habit technique · Environment & friction · 10–30 minutes
Make it easier
Remove the small steps between you and the habit. Remove the small obstacles between you and a habit: steps, set-up, distance, searching and decisions.
Level: Beginner · Free — no account needed to read
Remove the small obstacles between you and a habit: steps, set-up, distance, searching and decisions.
Why it may help
Habits run best when they’re easy. Each removed step makes the habit more likely on an ordinary day, and the change keeps working without willpower.
When to use it
- You remember but don’t start
- Set-up takes as long as the habit
- Low-motivation days
How to apply it
- List every step between you and starting.
- Remove, combine or pre-do any you can.
- Keep equipment where the habit happens.
- Make the first step one movement.
An example
Jake’s guitar went from the cupboard to a stand beside his chair — practice went from five steps to one.
The common mistake
Trying to add motivation instead of removing obstacles.
Practise it
Remove one step from one habit today.
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.
Changing how easy an action is — placement, availability, effort — is one of the most studied forms of choice architecture. Effects vary between settings.
Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (v1) codes: 12.1.
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
- Duckworth, Gendler & Gross (2016). Situational Strategies for Self-Control. Perspectives on Psychological Science. doi:10.1177/1745691615623247
- Good Habits, Bad Habits — Wendy Wood (2019)
Problems it helps with
- “I remember, but I don’t start.” — You know it’s time. You even think about it. And then you do something else.
- “I never have time.” — The day fills up, and the habit is always the thing that gets pushed out.
Lessons behind it
- Remove the small obstacles — Cut steps, simplify the space, and make starting almost effortless. (6 min · Beginner)
- Friction: the small effort that decides — Tiny extra steps quietly decide what you do — in both directions. (5 min · Beginner)
- Friction is a dial you can turn both ways — Lower it for what you want more of, raise it for what you want less of. (6 min · Beginner)