The Science of Habit

Habits are a powerful force in our lives. Positive or negative, they are a strong predictor of our behavior in any given situation. On average, 43% of our daily activities can be classified as habitual. But what is a habit? A habit is defined as "a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior" (Merriam-Webster). Interestingly, there are both psychological and physiological components to habit formation and retention. Habits are made up of a cue, an action, and a reward. An example of this would be school ending (cue), lying down (action), and napping (reward). 

(Robeson)

This psychological process produces physical changes in the brain. As behaviors are repeated, the neural pathways associated with them strengthen. How this occurs is very complicated, but essentially if a certain neurotransmitter is used frequently, it creates elevated levels of signaling molecules in your brain, even when the pathway isn't being stimulated. Every time an action is repeated with the same cue and reward, the automaticity of the behavior is increased. 

Automaticity is a measure of how little we have to consciously think about that specific behavior. Sometimes called muscle memory, automaticity is crucial to the process by which habits are formed. Automaticity increases with the number of repetitions, but only up to a certain point. This type of increase can be modeled as an asymptotic function, with more repetitions bringing one closer to the asymptote but never quite there.

Habits change human biology. Are the effects reversible? Luckily, they are. Disuse of the neural pathways diminishes their prevalence and the number of those signaling molecules previously mentioned. There are many strategies to breaking habits, but the most effective ones remove one's habitual cues. The best way to eliminate existing cues is to go on vacation. None of one's normal cues are the same, so your experiment will have a greater chance of succeeding. If going on vacation is a remote possibility, focus on recognizing cues when they occur and attempting to divert your behavior. This will decrease the automaticity of your responses to the targeted cues, increasing your awareness of what you're doing. 

One habit that many want to break is using a phone whenever there is downtime. An example of how to break this habit would be recognizing the cue, usually boredom or 15 spare minutes. That first step is crucial, but unfortunately the easy part. Next, every time that cue occurs one must recognize it and attempt to divert their behavior away from their phone and towards a book or other activity. Whatever the alternative, it is essential to break the connection between the cue (downtime) and the reward (phone use). Once that connection is broken the habit is gone and a new one can be formed in its place. 

(Robeson)