We are all familiar with the notion of “being on autopilot” – the tendency to initiate and even execute behaviors out of pure habit rather than conscious decision-making. When I shower in the morning I go through roughly the identical sequence of behaviors, while my mind is mostly elsewhere. If I am driving to a familiar location the word “autopilot” seems especially apt, as I can execute the drive with little thought. Of course, sometimes this leads me to taking my most common route by habit even when I intend to go somewhere else. You can, of course, override the habit through conscious effort.

That last word – effort – is likely key. Psychologists have found that humans have a tendency to maximize efficiency, which is another way of saying that we prioritize laziness. Being lazy sounds like a vice, but evolutionarily it probably is about not wasting energy. Animals, for example, tend to be active only as much as is absolutely necessary for survival, but we tend to see their laziness as conserving precious energy.

We developed for conservation of mental energy as well. We are not using all of our conscious thought and attention to do everyday activities, like walking. Some activities (breathing-walking) are so critical that there are specialized circuits in the brain for executing them. Other activities are voluntary or situation, like shooting baskets, but may still be important to us, so there is a neurological mechanism for learning these behaviors. The more we do them, the more subconscious and automatic they become. Sometimes we call this “muscle memory” but it’s really mostly in the brain, particularly the cerebellum. This is critical for mental efficiency. It also allows us to do one common task that we have “automated” while using our conscious brain power to do something else more important.

The question is – how much of the time are out actions instigated and executed by habit vs conscious choice, and how much do our habits align with our conscious goals and intentions?” A recent study set out to address this question. Participants (105) filled out an assessment 6 times a day for 7 days, indicating for the action they were currently engaged in whether it was initiated by habit or conscious choice, executed by habit or conscious choice, and whether it aligned with their goals. This is a smallish study, so the results need to be taken with care, but it does give us a window into this question.

They distinguished between initiating and executing, and say this is the first study to do so. By initiating they mean that habit triggered the behavior. By executing they mean that habit “facilitated the smooth execution of the behavior”. So my showering routine is both triggered and executed by habit. Writing this blog this morning is triggered by habit, but executed with conscious effort (I hope). Or I may decide to run an errand, without any habitual trigger, but then execute it mostly by habit. Aligning with their goals refers to whether or not the behavior is something they consciously want to do. For example, many people have “bad” habits, like smoking or eating a big desert, that do not align with their goals but they do out of habit. While other behaviors, like exercise, may definitely align with their goals.

They found in this study that: “Most observed behaviors were habitually instigated (65%), habitually executed (88%), and aligned with intention (76%). Whether a person’s behavior was generally habitual or aligned with intention did not vary as a function of demographics. Exercise behaviors were more commonly habitually instigated, and less habitually executed, than other action types.”

So about two-thirds of behaviors are initiated out of habit (according to this self-report), while most actions, 88%, are carried out through mostly habitual behaviors. This study suggests we are largely creatures of habit. What are the practical implications of this, if any?

The authors suggest, and I think this is reasonable, that this may inform our attempts at changing our behaviors. For example, if we want to stop a bad habit, like smoking, we may need to identify and remove the habitual triggers. Relying on conscious effort is often a losing strategy, because it takes so much mental effort, which goes against our evolved tendency to minimize our mental effort. We tend to resort to habit. But if you realign or day to minimize habitual triggers, that reduces the mental effort necessary to avoid the bad behavior. Similarly, if you want to more consistently execute a desired behavior, like exercising, then you will want to tie that behavior to a common trigger. Make it part of your routine, rather than doing it “when you have the time”.

This also brings up the fact that not all behaviors were the same in terms of their percentages. Exercising was more habitually triggered than other behaviors, which means we were less likely to spontaneously decide to exercise. We needed the habitual trigger.

These finding are not radical, and mostly align with prior research. They are just one way of putting numbers on what psychologists have already identified. It does appear to be good advice, and aligns well with my life experience – if you want to do something regularly, then make it part of your routine. If you want to change your behavior, then change your routine. Do not rely on frequent conscious mental effort. That almost never works. That is simply not how our brains work. Some people can do it, if they are very highly motivated. But we can’t just talk ourselves into that motivation. Rationalizing our way to good behavior or out of bad behavior moves the needle only a tiny amount. The best strategy is to make the desired behaviors as easy as possible – by lowering any barriers to the behavior as much as possible and habitually triggering them. If we want to avoid undesirable behavior we need to do the opposite, create as many barriers as possible and remove any habitual triggers. This may take some up-front mental energy (ironically), but pays off in the long run.