Environment and Habits
I held a workshop recently that discussed the power of environment in building habits. January feels like a good month to go over these thoughts again. I love the way habits remove the thinking from my days. They are the way to do the things I have already decided I want to do. If you have ever felt stuck or unable to find the motivation to get things done, habits are the way to automate it. If you’re just plain tired of having to think about every little thing all the time, that’s where environment design comes in. It’s like having a secret weapon that makes life easier without you even realizing it. If you become fanatical about designing your environment, the environment will do the work for you.
Relying on willpower alone can be difficult. Some days, it just doesn’t show up, and pushing through becomes exhausting. But what if your surroundings could do some of the work for you? That’s the magic of environment design. By tweaking your environment, you can set yourself up for success and make the behaviors you want more automatic. A lot of what we do every day is a reaction to what’s around us. If your environment is well designed, it will give you a nudge in the right direction. It helps you do the things you want to do without having to think so hard about it. It’s like putting your life on autopilot in the best way.
Environment design is shaping your space so it works for you instead of against you. It’s about making sure everything around you encourages the behaviors you want and makes it harder to fall into the ones you don’t. When your environment is haphazard or unintentional, it can lead to distractions, bad choices, and a general feeling of chaos. It can also make it harder to connect with the people around you. But when you design your space thoughtfully, you create a way to support good habits and make it easier to focus on what matters.
The first thing to figure out is what behavior you want to change, start, or stop. Next, think about the people, situations, or triggers that affect this behavior. What usually happens that makes you act the way you do? Habits are all about pairing behaviors with triggers and reinforcing them over time.Think about the layout of your space. Create micro zones where each area has a specific purpose. When you know that one spot is just for reading or working out, it becomes easier to get into the right mindset when you’re there. It’s like training your brain to know what to do based on where you are.
To make a habit stick, here are four steps:
Remove tolerations: Get rid of the stuff in your environment that drains your energy or stresses you out.
Identify anchors and triggers: figure out what’s holding you back—maybe it’s a specific time of day or a certain spot in your home—and change it up.
Audit your space: take a look around and see what’s helping you and what’s not. Sometimes just seeing your space with fresh eyes can reveal what needs to change.
Add visual cues: Little things you see can make a big difference in what you do. A simple visual reminder can be the nudge you need.
At the end of the day, environment design isn’t just about making things look nice or keeping your space tidy. It’s about creating a space that helps you be the person you want to be. By shaping your surroundings, you make it easier to focus on what really matters and let go of the rest. Happy habit building!
