Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them

[pokerfan]

March 5, 2012
Fresh Air from WHYY

Think about something it took you a really long time to learn, like how to parallel park. At first, parallel parking was difficult and you had to devote a lot of mental energy to it. But after you grew comfortable with parallel parking, it became much easier — almost habitual, you could say.

Parallel parking, gambling, exercising, brushing your teeth and every other habit-forming activity all follow the same behavioral and neurological patterns, says New York Times business writer Charles Duhigg. His new book The Power of Habit explores the science behind why we do what we do — and how companies are now working to use our habit formations to sell and market products to us.

Audio (38 min 10 sec) Transcript

[cbayer]

1. Just heard him. Really interesting interview.

He says that the best time to change a bad habit (like smoking) is when you go on vacation and change your routine. That's what David Sedaris did when he went to Japan, and he was a hard core smoker. His writings about it are hilarious, of course.

But I digress. The discussion on how Target figures out when you are going to have a big change of habit (pregnancy and new baby) and then how they market you was also fascinating.

Thanks for posting this.

[pokerfan]

3. I listened to it on the local affiliate

oddly enough, while I was on a three mile walk (a habit I'm trying to instill). I have his book. What I liked about it is that it isn't the usual self-help clap-trap but is actually backed up by scientific (psychological and neurological) research.

[handmade34]

2. rec

bookmarked