MEPX
Chapter 8 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What a habit is
  2. 2How long it takes
  3. 3Starting a habit
  4. 4Implementation intentions
  5. 5Environment
  6. 6Breaking a habit
  7. 7Lapses
  8. 8Rewards and tracking
  9. 9Identity and goals
  10. 10Honest limits

Chapter 8 of 10

Rewards and tracking

What reinforces.

Immediate beats large

The reward has to arrive close in time to the behaviour. Long-term benefits like health do not reinforce; the enjoyable part of the activity does.

  • Find a version of the behaviour you actually like.
  • Pairing it with something pleasant, such as a podcast, works.

Tracking

Marking a calendar or ticking a list provides an immediate small reward and honest data. It helps, and elaborate tracking systems often become their own procrastination.