Imagine you have a workout bike gathering dust in your living room.
You know using it would be good for you, but you can’t seem to make yourself hop on and start pedaling. One day, you get a brilliant idea: you’ll only let yourself binge that addictive new Netflix show while you’re spinning away on the bike. Suddenly, your dreaded exercise routine doesn’t seem so bad. In fact, you find yourself looking forward to it.
This clever strategy is what James Clear calls “temptation bundling” in his mega-bestselling book Atomic Habits. The concept is simple yet powerful: pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do. By linking a temptation or reward to a problematic habit, you make it more attractive and easier to stick with over time.
Clear borrows this insight from Katy Milkman, a professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In her research, Milkman found that participants who bundled temptations like audiobooks with exercise routines worked out 51% more often over a 9-week period compared to the control group. (See: The Fresh Start Effect.)
The core idea is to harness the motivational power of your vices to fuel your virtuous habits. Let’s explore exactly how to do this.
Temptation Bundling: The 3 Big Ideas
- Big Idea 1: Make Hard Habits More Attractive
- Big Idea 2: Create a Highly Specific Plan
- Big Idea 3: Start Small and Iterate
Big Idea 1: Make Hard Habits More Attractive
The core insight of temptation bundling is that you can make it easier to build good habits by linking them to something you enjoy. Want to read more? Allow yourself to purchase a favorite treat only when you’re at the bookstore. Hate folding laundry? Listen to your favorite podcast only when doing this chore. (A personal favorite of mine.)
By bundling a temptation or reward with a problematic habit, you make the habit more attractive. Your brain starts associating the reward’s positive feelings with the task itself. Over time, the habit becomes something you look forward to rather than dread. Consider how you might apply this in your own life:
- Watching your favorite TV show while on the treadmill
- Listening to an audiobook you love while doing the dishes
- Enjoying a delicious smoothie only after your morning yoga session
- Getting a pedicure as a reward for completing your weekly review at work
The key is to get creative and find pairings that are both motivating and feasible for your lifestyle.
Big Idea 2: Create a Highly Specific Plan
Temptation bundling works best when you create a concrete if-then plan. Clear recommends crafting a strategy like this:
“I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
For example:
“I will read for 30 minutes at 7:00 AM on the couch while enjoying my morning coffee.”
By spelling out exactly when and where you’ll perform the habit and linking it to a specific temptation, you remove the mental effort of decision-making. Your habit becomes an automatic part of your routine rather than something you have to debate doing continually.
This approach taps into the power of implementation intentions, a tactic proven by over 100 studies to increase goal follow-through. When you make a specific plan for when and where you will perform a habit, you’re far more likely to do it.
Combine this with an enticing reward, and you have a recipe for habit success. Instead of just saying you want to meditate more, decide to practice for 10 minutes at 8 AM in your bedroom each day, and only after that can you take a luxurious hot shower.
The more concrete and linked your plan, the better.
Big Idea 3: Start Small and Iterate
Like any habit change, temptation bundling is most effective when you start small. Choose just one habit to link with one reward. As you build consistency, consider expanding the duration or frequency.
It’s also essential to assess your bundles over time. Is the temptation starting to feel more like a chore? Mix it up and find a new, exciting reward. The key is picking pairings you genuinely enjoy so you keep showing up.
Remember, habit formation is an ongoing process, not a one-time event. As your tastes and needs evolve, so too should your temptation bundles. The beauty of this system is its flexibility.
You could start by making a rule that you can only check social media once you’ve finished your Spanish lesson for the day using a language app. Over time, as your language skills improve, you might switch to watching a favorite Spanish TV show as your reward.
Keep modifying your bundles to match your current level and interests.
Conclusion
Temptation bundling is a simple yet powerful way to make good habits stick. By linking something you need to do with something you love to do, you make complex routines more attractive and effortless to maintain. You tap into the motivational force of your guilty pleasures to serve your most important goals.
Look at your current habits. Where could you apply this strategy to jumpstart your progress? What temptations could you pair with a daily task to make it more appealing? Pick one bundle to try this week. Start small, get specific, and iterate as you go.
Remember, building better habits is a process. It’s not about overhauling your entire life overnight. With techniques like temptation bundling, you’ll find the momentum to turn your aspirations into a reality one small step at a time. Leverage what you love to power through to what you should do.
Your future self will thank you.
Leave a Reply