We would like to get rid of some bad habits as quickly as possible. But why is this often so difficult? Why is our brain so attached to recurring behaviors and what can we do about it?
It's a figure that even makes psychologists sit up and take notice: on average, we take our cell phone out of our pocket 214 times a day and look at the display. In most cases, this is not because we have received a message or want to check something on the internet, but because our brain tells us to do so.
Daily routine as an energy-saving mode for the brain
The brain gives millions of people the command to make a Coffee to drink, smoke a cigarette after dinner, drink a glass of wine in the evening and more. And we do this even though we know that all of this is harmful to our health. We call these recurring behaviors bad habits - but our brain loves them more than almost anything else.
The reason: automatisms save energy. In fact, researchers have found that the areas responsible for complex thought processes and decisions stop working in routine mode. Conversely, this means that anyone who wants to change their habits faces one of the biggest challenges of all: Because he has to reprogram his neuron network and the entire motivational system of the brain.
"Between 30 and 50 percent of our daily actions are determined by habits," says Bas Verplanken, Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Bath.
Why do we find it so difficult to give up bad habits?
Looking at your smartphone 20 times an hour, five cups of coffee a day, biting your fingernails while watching TV: Everyone develops bad habits in their lives. The main culprit: our selfish brain. "Confronting new and complicated things requires awareness, attention and concentration - the brain therefore strives to routinize everything," explains Gerhard Roth from the University of Bremen.
The professor at the Institute of Brain Research has been studying the question of why it is so difficult to motivate people to give up bad habits for years. "Habits are both biologically and neuronally cheap. Changes to structures and functions in the areas of feeling, thinking and acting, on the other hand, are metabolically complex and expensive," he writes in his book "Coaching, Counseling and the Brain".
Get rid of bad habits
Breaking bad habits, leaving stored behavioral paths - we know from the findings of neurobiology that it takes at least 21 days for the old habits to disappear. Motivation patterns are deleted in the brain. In other words, the biochemical update is complete and the old program has been overwritten. This process works most effectively if you adhere to the following three basic rules:
1. be prepared for attacks
Psychologist Gabriele Oettingen has developed a success formula for self-motivation. The term WOOP stands for "Wish-outcome-obstacle-plan". This means that if you want to break a bad habit, you should be prepared for temptations, obstacles and stumbling blocks. This allows you to draw up a plan in advance on how to react to the dangers.
2. change the setting
"Habits are always triggered by stimuli from the environment," says Bas Verplanken from the University of Bath. "And to make it even more difficult: It's usually not just a stimulus, but an entire context in which the habit is embedded." This means that we usually repeat many everyday actions in a very specific setting: in a special place, at a familiar time, in certain moods or with selected people. It is precisely this setting that we should change. For example, psychologist Wendy Wood found out that Smokerwho wanted to give up their vice were twice as successful when they started on vacation.
3. search for a replacement routine
An effective way of reprogramming is to install a new routine program in the brain. In other words, replacing a bad habit with a good one. For example, you can replace a cigarette after a meal with an apple. Once you have managed to establish a new stimulus in the brain's motivational pattern, the habit literally becomes a no-brainer. Just like with Jan Frodenowhose routine makes him go to the gym almost unconsciously every day. So that when it comes down to it, he is highly motivated for the competition - and can overcome his inner couch potato. A routine ...
