HabitsCue, Routine, Reward
Find the trigger and the payoff behind a habit before you try to change it.
Habits run on a loop: a cue, a routine, a reward. Willpower alone rarely beats a loop that runs dozens of times a day. Once you can see the cue and what the routine gives you, you can keep the reward and swap the behaviour.
How to use it
- Pick one habit you want to change, such as checking your phone when you start a hard task.
- For a week, note each time it happens: place, time, feeling, people around, and what happened just before.
- Look for the cue that repeats: a place, a time, a feeling or a person.
- Ask what the routine gives you: a break, relief from boredom, a sense of connection. Test it by trying a different routine with the same cue and noticing if the urge fades.
- Choose a new routine that gives the same reward, and plan it with Implementation Intentions.
Example
A software developer might find they open social media every time a test run starts, and the real reward is a short break; standing up to stretch could give the same relief. A teacher might find afternoon snacking is really a pause before marking.
Watch out
- Skipping the observation week and guessing the cue. Guesses are often wrong.
- Trying to delete a habit with nothing in its place. Replace it instead.
Then reshape the cue with Design Your Surroundings or Habit Stacking.