Here’s an easy way to apply environment design to your own life: think about your environment in relation to the number of steps it takes to perform a habit.<ul><li>To make good habits easier, reduce the number of steps to do them.</li><li>To make bad habits harder, increase the number of steps between you and the habit.</li></ul>

Designing your environment

﻿﻿How is your environment design impacting your choices? And what will you do to improve it?

﻿Your environment is the “default option to which you are assigned.” The environment you surround yourself with determines the default actions that you take on a day–to–day basis.

<ul><li>The researchers summarized the impact of the environment design by saying, “In most cases, the majority of people choose the default option to which they were assigned.”</li><li>In other words, most of us respond the same way to the cues that surround us. If someone or a situation asks you to make a tough decision, you will probably go with the default option. </li></ul>

You‘ll naturally go for easy

Most of the time we assume that to take a certain action, we need to have an incentive. You hear people say this all the time: “I need to get motivated.” or “I need to have a good reason for doing X.”Environment design paints a different picture. It proves that our choices and preferences can be crafted by the environment around us. Suddenly, it becomes apparent that we don’t need to be motivated or incentivized to take action — we simply need to be surrounded by the right cues.

Surround yourself with right cues

Reduce mindless eating. I don’t know about you, but if I see a cookie sitting on the kitchen counter, then I’m going to eat it. I don’t even need to be hungry. It’s just there, so I respond. I’m simply reacting to my environment. Make life easier on yourself by removing unhealthy food from your view. Put healthier options like fruit and nuts on the kitchen counter.Start flossing. I floss everyday, but it wasn’t always that way. Previously, I never remembered to take the floss out of the drawer and use it. Then, I bought a small bowl, dropped a handful of pre–made flossers in it, and set it next to my toothbrush. That simple change in my environment was all I needed to start flossing consistently. What small visual cues can you make for yourself?

Example

You may think that you control most of your choices, but the truth is that a large portion of your actions every day are simply a response to the environment design around you. The forms you are mailed, the food on your kitchen counter, the items on your desk at work — they all impact your behavior in one way or another.

Impact of environment

Learn how to use environment design to create a healthier and more productive environment at work, at home, and in the rest of your life.

ERIC JOHNSON ,RESEARCHER ,COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AND DANIEL GOLDSTEIN,RESEARCHER,LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

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