Use Temptation Bundling to Create Better Habits
To muster the willpower to tackle something unpleasant, combine it with something indulgent
We’re just over halfway through the year at this point, which means if you were optimistic enough to make new year’s resolutions, you’ve probably already been through the various stages of failing at them. It’s a familiar cycle: You start off bright-eyed and eager, then quickly lose steam, take a break, feel guilty, muster another half-hearted attempt, and, right about now — with all the pleasures of summer in full swing — finally come to grips with the fact that your resolution has not stuck.
It’s easy to chalk this up to a lack of willpower, the inability to say no to that half-pint of ice cream left in the freezer, or that last sweep of Instagram before bedtime. But the key to sticking with a habit may not be saying “no.” It’s figuring out the right time to say “yes.”
There’s plenty of research showing that a restrictive, black-and-white approach isn’t the most effective way to approach habit formation: Diets that require you to cut out all sugar, for example, are harder to stick to than those that allow you the occasional treat. And newer research on habit formation actually encourages giving in to temptation — but only if it’s paired with something…
