Environment Design
Surround yourself with cues for the life you want to live.
I would love to have a room that looks like this.
I recently finished the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, and boy was it a gamechanger. I've struggled my whole life with ADHD, and as a psychiatrist once told me, the thing people with ADHD struggle with most is consistency. Forming consistent, healthy habits has frequently been a challenge, which has often led to disappointment, feelings of inadequacy and low self-worth. Reading Atomic Habits helped me discover how the brain functions when forming (or breaking) habits. I now have a much better understanding of how to successfully create behavior change, and have already seen significant improvement in my mood and confidence since I've started implementing small changes recommended in the book.
One of the tools Clear writes about is Environment Design. Such a simple hack, yet easy to overlook during our busy lives. I found it so helpful, I thought I'd share it with you!
According to Clear and the research cited in his book, our environment is filled with cues that prompt behavior, whether we're consciously aware of them or not. Perfect example: have you ever spent time in the checkout line at Marshall's or HomeGoods? Then you know how difficult it is to not leave the store without purchasing one of the sweets, knick-knacks, or discounted decor items that line the checkout aisle. Marshall's knows exactly what they're doing. You're stuck there, you're waiting in line and likely feeling bored or impatient, so they've surrounded you with things you might impulsively buy.
What you're surrounded by has the power to influence you. Knowing this, we can use this same principle to consciously design our home or office environment to reflect the energy or productivity we'd like to experience.
This tip was immensely helpful to me, as I tend to spend too much free time watching t.v., and not enough time moving my body. My partner and I love movies, so of course we have a big screen t.v. that is front-row-center in our living room. However, I would like to change my behavior by spending more of my free time exercising, moving my body, and doing healthy things. So, I decided to store my yoga mat and hand weights on either side of the television. Now, whenever I'm watching something, I can't help but see the fitness equipment sitting there. Result? I work out while watching t.v. My next plan is to phase out the t.v. completely by getting rid of it in favor of more fitness or creativity-related equipment and design.
In what ways can you remove things or add things to your environment to help prompt positive behavior change?
Want to travel more? Add posters or framed photographs of the places you want to visit to the walls of the room you spend the most time in.
Want to practice guitar? Put your guitar out in the open where you'll see it and walk past it often.
Want to stop doing something? Remove the visual cue from your environment and/or make it harder to engage in that activity by hiding it or removing it from your home altogether.
To see lasting results in behavior, start simple and start small. One step at a time.
