I would posit that another reason this (awesome) strategy works is because it bundles behaviors together so that you do them together without even thinking about it.

I know this sounds really obvious so I’ll break it down. What do you do right after you go to the bathroom? You wash your hands. Why? Because those behaviors are so inherently bundled together from years of repetition that you don’t even consider not doing one when you do the other.

So, hand washing isn’t a particularly fun activity but you do it because you’ve bundled that behavior.

This strategy works great for helping to curb bad habits by tying them to good ones.

So, if you’re someone who would like to meditate (good habit) but you can’t find the time (bad habit) you can fix this by tying the bad habit to a good one.

I tried this one specifically with my morning routine and it works really well. I couldn’t find the time to meditate at all and honestly, I didn’t want to create the space in my day for it but I always make coffee first thing in the morning so now- while the coffee is brewing- I mediate.

I tied a bad habit to an enjoyable habit that I was already doing and I am now someone who mediates daily for 5 minutes (I know it’s not much but cut me some slack- I didn't want to do it at all).

Great article!!