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habit formation

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  • No visual on file
    Habit Loops Entry #0304

    The reason it takes different lengths of time for different habits

    The often-quoted single figure for forming a habit does not survive measurement. Observed times range from weeks to most of a year depending on the behaviour.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0304

    There is no single formation period. Complexity sets the curve, and the widely quoted figure is a median with its range removed.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Habit Loops Entry #0314

    The reason a two-minute version beats the full version

    Frequency is set by the cost of starting, not by the value of finishing. A version small enough to start is performed often enough to become automatic.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0314

    The size of a habit does not decide how much it produces. The cost of starting decides how often it happens.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Habit Loops Entry #0313

    Why identity-based goals outlast outcome-based ones

    An outcome goal is satisfied and then finished. An identity has no completion point, so it keeps producing the behaviour after the target is met.

    Novice
    The hidden part #0313

    An outcome goal works until it is met. An identity has no state in which it has been met.

    Open file
  • No visual on file
    Habit Loops Entry #0323

    Why the second week is harder than the first

    The task did not get harder. The novelty that was doing the work in week one has decayed, and nothing automatic has yet arrived to replace it.

    Adept
    The hidden part #0323

    Week one is paid for by novelty and week two is not. The behaviour did not get harder; its funding source expired before the automatic one arrived.

    Open file