Send bad habits down the hard path
Hard path: the choice or decision with multiple barriers making an outcome difficult to achieve
Previously, I talked about taking the easy path to make achieving a goal not only possible, but fun. Making things harder on ourselves leads us to not do what we want to do. Removing friction can make good habits effortless. What about our bad habits, then? Could we add friction to make our bad habits harder to do? Barriers are effective at blocking our goals; we can use them to block our bad habits, anti-goals if you will.
Deleting the apps isn’t enough
Say your bad habit, or anti-goal, is doomscrolling on Instagram or TikTok. The endless scrolling through 5-10 second videos has you hopelessly addicted to your phone. It got so bad that you knew you had to delete the apps, so you did—except you redownloaded them a few minutes later during a moment of weakness. Deleting apps is a flimsy barrier, easily destroyed by just going back into the App Store or Play Store. When you’re stressed, bored, or craving dopamine, all it takes is a few seconds to reinstall an app.
Forget software and think outside the box by going inside the box. A physical barrier can work wonders, like putting your phone inside a timed lock box. Every time you look at the box with the desire to scroll, you’re confronted with an existential question: Do I actually, really, truly need to use my phone right now?
Such a question may conjure up emotions. You may be feeling some sense of urgency, legitimate or not. Or you’re trying to avoid discomfort, boredom, or responsibility. Are you afraid of being disconnected from the outside world? The world is still moving, even if you’re not viewing the events that are transpiring through a screen. Think about what motivates you to use your phone and try to understand that it may not always be relevant in the present moment.
Caution regarding barriers
If you find yourself feeling negative emotions towards the barrier you’ve added, you may feel tempted to remove the barrier and keep your bad habit going. Barriers are not meant to be a punishment, but a method to improve your life by stopping you from fulfilling your anti-goals. When you look at the little box holding your phone, see it as something to feel joyful about. Hooray, I don’t have to use my phone!