“Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my leg don't break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could be together
Walking on,
walking on the moon”
Walking on the Moon by The Police (Click here for the song)
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“I keep talking to you about making time for strategic work, but I never do it. I’m motivated, but I’m not shifting my habits.”
Coaching client
“Forming a habit means connecting a situation you often encounter with the action you usually take. These connections help by creating impulses that push us to do the usual action without thinking. But the pushes from habits are just one of many feelings we might have at any time.
Impulses are like babies, each crying for our attention. We can only tend to one at a time. These impulses come from various sources – intentions, plans, emotions, and habits. We act according to whichever impulse demands our attention by crying the loudest at any given moment.
Habit impulses usually cry the loudest, guiding us to do what we normally do, even when other impulses are vying for our attention. However, there are times when other impulses cry louder.”
Dr Benjamin Gardner
Intention vs action: What gets in the way?
Regular readers would know that long term behaviour change is hard.
It's challenging to break free of bad habits because our brain relies on automatic routines.
The brain views all repetitive behaviours as important and can't differentiate between good ones and bad ones.
When trying to rid ourselves of habits, we tend to gravitate toward a quick-fix solution and avoid discomfort.
How do we learn habits?
Habits are formed through repeated actions in response to cues. For example, entering an office may trigger the habit of sitting. Over time, these actions become automatic, requiring less conscious thought. Automaticity, the key aspect of habit, allows people to perform familiar actions without actively deciding to do so—even when they intend not to. Automatic actions can happen efficiently, without awareness, intention, or control.
Psychological research shows that repeatedly performing a simple action in a consistent context leads to habit formation through associative learning. Once an action becomes linked to external cues, reliance on conscious attention and motivation decreases. As a result, habits tend to persist even when motivation or interest fades. Additionally, habits improve cognitive efficiency by automating routine actions, freeing mental resources for other tasks.
Something practical: sitting
Research shows that prolonged sitting is becoming more common worldwide, with negative effects beyond physical health. It can lead to fatigue, reduced work productivity, increased absenteeism, and impair executive function, attention, and memory.
“People employed in office-based work spend a majority of their work time in a seated posture (70–85%), which contributes to their whole day sitting exposure. Desk-based office workers are also found to spend their leisure time in sedentary positions, apart from working hours, compared to their less sedentary counterparts.”
Chandrasekaran, B., Pesola, A.J., Rao, C.R. and Arumugam, A. (2021)
Why should we move at work?
Researchers have found that frequent breaks at work with moderate levels of physical activity improve cognitive function. Walking boosts blood flow, delivering more glucose to the brain and enhancing its efficiency. Regular readers may already be familiar with the beneficial effects of microbreaks on well-being, problem-solving, and gaining perspective.
Various workplace interventions aim to reduce sedentary behaviour, including height-adjustable desks, standing or walking meetings, environmental modifications such as accessible stairwells, reducing elevator use, promoting active commuting, and encouraging physical activity.
Despite solid intellectual arguments, practical options at work, and educational campaigns, sedentary behaviour is pervasive.
So, what can be done?
The automatic nature of sitting consists of two key aspects:- the degree to which it happens unconsciously and- the challenge of controlling or resisting it.
Researchers have found that sitting is a deeply ingrained habit due to the power of unconscious behaviour. This includes a lack of awareness when sitting begins (e.g., "I sit without thinking") and difficulty in identifying or choosing alternatives (e.g., "I struggle to avoid sitting").
Encouraging office workers who sit for over six hours a day to do an hour of intense exercise at the gym may not be practical. Instead, researchers have found that promoting frequent light activities during work hours helps to counteract the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
Researchers have found that interventions that focus on disrupting sitting habits by increasing conscious awareness of sitting and providing more opportunities to choose alternative postures are the most effective.
A computer prompt:
Researchers tested a pop-up prompt appearing every 45 minutes on workers' screens. Clicking it triggered a full-screen message prompting them to stand or move for a chosen duration. Users could start immediately, delay it, or dismiss it entirely.
All participants received visual feedback on accepted prompts to track their progress. The study found that prompts help reduce automatic sitting by increasing awareness of breaks. By making breaks more noticeable, prompts made standing or moving feel easier and gave individuals more control over their behaviour.
Some new research: Changing the script.
Recent research has explored the Script Elicitation method, which helps people understand and adjust their daily routines in two steps.
Step one involves describing daily activities, the order in which they occur, and the triggers that prompt transitions between tasks. This process results in a detailed action plan.
Step two uses this plan as a tool for making changes, allowing individuals to develop healthier or more effective habits.
Please click here to find the questions used by the researchers on my resources page (the article is open access)
The method works in two ways:
(1) It encourages reflection on unconscious behaviours, turning procedural knowledge into conscious understanding.
(2) By increasing awareness, it allows participants to plan and modify their habits by adding, removing, or reorganising actions. This deeper understanding empowers them to make meaningful changes.
Recent research has demonstrated that supporting people to reflect on and make realistic modifications to their day-to-day, habitually executed routines offers an effective method for promoting change among office workers.
The script method in practice: an example from the literature.
Figure 1: Example of Current script
Figure 2: Example of Alternative script
What happens when we are tired?
Researchers have found that when people feel sleepier than usual, they are more likely to rely on habitual behaviours. In other words, tiredness makes individuals default to familiar routines rather than making conscious decisions.
What about my client?
During the next coaching session, she explained that she has designated Friday as her strategy day. Her calendar remains clear, free from client work, and she starts the day with a catch-up session with her mentor, which helps set the agenda and establish accountability.
Final thoughts
Last week, I decided to revisit my Prioritisation and Values Worksheet, (click here for the resource) and make a conscious effort to integrate this practice into my daily work routine. My daily work script is changing. My goal is to transition to a more structured and organised approach to my work, which is aligned with my goals, priorities and values.
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References:
Chrismas, B.C.R., Taylor, L., Cherif, A., Sayegh, S. and Bailey, D.P. (2019). Breaking up prolonged sitting with moderate-intensity walking improves attention and executive function in Qatari females. PLOS ONE, 14(7), p.e0219565. doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219565.
Chandrasekaran, B., Pesola, A.J., Rao, C.R. and Arumugam, A. (2021). Does breaking up prolonged sitting improve cognitive functions in sedentary adults? A mapping review and hypothesis formulation on the potential physiological mechanisms. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 22(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-021-04136-5.
Hendriksen, I.J.M., Bernaards, C.M., Steijn, W.M.P. and Hildebrandt, V.H. (2016). Longitudinal Relationship Between Sitting Time on a Working Day and Vitality, Work Performance, Presenteeism, and Sickness Absence. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 58(8), pp.784–789. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000000809.
Gardner, B., Mainsbridge, C.P., Rebar, A.L. et al. Breaking the Habit? Identifying Discrete Dimensions of Sitting Automaticity and Their Responsiveness to a Sitting-Reduction Intervention. Int.J. Behav. Med. 31, 55–63 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-023-10155-4
Gardner, B., Rebar, A.L., Sanne de Wit and Lally, P. (2024). What is habit and how can it be used to change real‐world behaviour? Narrowing the theory‐reality gap. Social and personality psychology compass, 18(6). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12975.
Peer, W., Mathews, R.R., Ng, X., Wong, C. and Gardner, B. (2024). Can ‘Script Elicitation’ Methods Be Used to Promote Physical Activity? An Acceptability Study. Behavioral Sciences, 14(7), pp.572–572. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14070572.
Gardner, B., Rebar, A.L. and Lally, P. (2022). How does habit form? Guidelines for tracking real-world habit formation. Cogent Psychology, 9(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/23311908.2022.2041277.
Gardner, B., Lally, P. and Wardle, J. (2012). Making health habitual: The psychology of ‘habit-formation’ and general practice. British Journal of General Practice, [online] 62(605), pp.664–666. doi:https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12x659466.
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