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Context-Dependent Behavior

Source: Wood & Neal, 2007, Psychological Bulletin

Video Resources

Prefer watching? Check out these expert explanations:

Designing Your Environment for Success

The goal is to make good habits the path of least resistance and bad habits require significant effort. Here's how:

Make Good Habits Obvious

  • Place your workout clothes next to your bed the night before
  • Keep a water bottle on your desk at all times
  • Put books on your pillow so you see them before bed
  • Display healthy snacks at eye level in your fridge

Make Bad Habits Invisible

  • Remove junk food from your house entirely
  • Hide your TV remote in a drawer
  • Delete social media apps from your phone
  • Unplug your gaming console after each use

Make Good Habits Easy

  • Prep healthy meals in advance
  • Keep a journal and pen on your nightstand
  • Set up your meditation space permanently
  • Lay out all ingredients for your morning smoothie the night before

Make Bad Habits Difficult

  • Use website blockers during work hours
  • Keep your phone in another room while working
  • Require a password to access entertainment sites
  • Store tempting foods in hard-to-reach places

The Two-Minute Rule of Environment

If a habit takes more than two minutes to start, you're less likely to do it. If a bad habit takes more than two minutes to access, you're less likely to engage in it. Design your environment with this threshold in mind.

Context Resetting

One powerful application of this research is "context resetting" - deliberately changing your environment to break old habits. This is why people often find it easier to start new habits after moving to a new home or starting a new job. The old environmental cues are gone.

You can create mini context resets by:

  • Rearranging your furniture
  • Working from a different room
  • Taking a different route to work
  • Changing your morning routine sequence

Apply This Knowledge

Do an environmental audit. Walk through your home and identify: (1) What environmental cues are triggering bad habits? (2) What obstacles are preventing good habits? Then make one change today. Remove one temptation or add one prompt for a good habit. The goal is to outsource your behavior change to your environment, not your willpower.