It’s a New Year’s ceremony of passage. The ball has dropped, the clock has struck midnight, and we’ve set down our ultimate drink till February 1. With one of the best intentions, we mix our inexperienced smoothies, be part of new gyms, and decide up our copies of James Clear’s bestseller: Atomic Habits. And whereas everybody who considers themselves “that girl” on TikTookay is doing the identical, I’ve discovered to not be so fast with my judgment. Upon ending the e book, I’ve come to appreciate: it’s truly definitely worth the hype. Though the e book has introduced many behavioral psych phrases into the widespread lexicon, there’s one which stood out to me as an absolute sport changer: temptation bundling.
There’s loads of enjoyable available in life, however the less-than-exciting reality about maturity is that with it comes a complete laundry checklist of yawn-inducing obligations (laundry included). Taxes, loading the dishwasher, clipping your cat’s nails—I can go on in naming the numerous issues I don’t need to do. And after all, there are the duties that assist us transfer towards our targets that may be onerous to search out the motivation to do. Working out, writing a marketing strategy… you realize those.
But what if I instructed you there was a solution to make these monotonous, typically mundane duties slightly (re: loads) simpler to search out the motivation to finish? That’s the place temptation bundling comes into play.
Featured picture by Michelle Nash.
Why Willpower Isn’t the Answer
First off, to grasp temptation bundling and why it’s so efficient, we’ve to take a look at why lots of the myths we’ve come to consider about conduct change are precisely that: myths.
Have you ever puzzled why it appears some persons are extra motivated than others? Or maybe somebody instructed you that with slightly extra willpower, you possibly can make your desires a actuality? While we might imagine that motivation is an innate attribute or that willpower is one thing we are able to entry always, these beliefs typically preserve folks from persistently training wholesome habits or reaching their targets. Instead, Clear suggests what he calls the 2nd Law of Behavior Change: make it enticing. He describes it like this:
“We need to make our habits attractive because it is the expectation of a rewarding experience that motivates us to act in the first place.”
And that, he continues, “is where a strategy known as temptation bundling comes into play.”
What is temptation bundling?
To illustrate the concept, Clear introduces us to Ronan Byrne, {an electrical} engineering pupil in Dublin. Like many people, Byrne loved a very good Netflix binge—however he additionally needed to work out extra. So, he linked his train bike to his pc and TV, making it in order that he might solely watch Netflix when he was pedaling at a sure velocity. Clear concludes: “He was […] employing temptation bundling to make his exercise habit more attractive.”
Put merely, temptation bundling is permitting ourselves to do one thing we like to do solely when doing one thing we don’t like to do. The result’s that by pairing these behaviors collectively, we could start to sit up for doing the much less fascinating behavior or activity. By rewarding ourselves with that “attractive” behavior, we really feel extra motivated to do what must be carried out whereas, previously, that motivation didn’t exist.
(Note: While many people who find out about temptation bundling could have initially come to the time period by means of Atomic Habits, the time period was launched in 2014 by Katherine Milkman, the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.)
How to Use Temptation Bundling to Reach Your Goals
Clearly, temptation bundling may be an efficient technique to make use of when you should create motivation to finish a sure activity or chore. Personally, I follow temptation bundling by listening to podcasts solely once I go for walks. I even have an audiobook that I’ve been dying to take heed to (this one—download it immediately!). To implement temptation bundling, I can only listen to it when doing household chores or watching my favorite TV shows.
The good news is that we can implement this concept and habit-forming strategy for just about anything. The effect of temptation bundling, of course, can come with significant short-term and long-term benefits. But in essence, we’re teaching ourselves to build a solid habit formation for these things that may have once been difficult.
Some examples include:
- Only getting a pedicure while reading the novel you need to finish for book club.
- Only watching an episode of your favorite show when working out on the treadmill.
- Only scrolling through Facebook when you’re at the gym.
- Only playing video games after you’ve written your daily gratitude list.
With this formula, simply swap in the behaviors you want to turn into habits. Reflect on your goals and the behaviors that may already feel like rewards.
Bonus: How to Combine Temptation Bundling and Habit Stacking
Have you heard of habit stacking? It’s a popular term used to describe the process of pairing a habit you already do with a new behavior you want to incorporate into your life. James Clear encourages you to take your commitment to positive behavior change a step further, by suggesting that you combine temptation bundling with the habit stacking strategy.
He lays out the formula in Atomic Habits:
1. After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [HABIT I NEED]. —> habit stacking
2. After [HABIT I NEED], I will [HABIT I WANT]. —> temptation bundling
For more on habit stacking and ideas to help you reach your goals in 2023, read Camille’s post on rethinking your New Year’s resolution to achieve success.
