Vlad's Roam Garden

Change your environment to encourage behaviors you want

seedling environment setup behaviour habit willpower design food social proof nudge design policies for yourself systemization constraint addiction make-public

Changing your environment to encourage certain behaviors is one of the most powerful drivers of personal change

Make doing the right thing easy, and you'll do it more often then not.

example

If you want to eat healthier - you'd do well buying the healthy food in a first place. As then when you are hungry healthy food is what is available and what is easy to do.

If you want to remember to bring something to work - place it under your house keys, so you'll be guaranteed to encounter it when going out. This way you create a physical constraint for yourself that prevents you from failing to take the desired action

If I want to consistently do focused reading - make that part of my daily routine

Another key environment that you should consider designing carefully is the "people" environment you find yourself in - Surround yourself with people you’d like to become more like

reference

Eliminate distractions in the environment

design defines cognitive problems users need to solve

knowledge in the world

Effortless. Many people try to stick to a new diet through sheer force of will. Even when this works, it tends to be a poor allocation of resources. It’s better to do an upstream intervention, such as emptying your house of unacceptable foods and stocking the kitchen with easy-to-grab items from the new diet. Generally speaking, beware systems that require either ongoing discipline or continuous decision-making, and instead look for places where a single burst of willpower or effort can create savings down the line.

Why burden other people when we can put the burden on the thing itself? Do I want to remember to take a book to a colleague? I put the book someplace where I cannot fail to see it when I leave the house. A good spot is against the front door so that I can’t leave without tripping over it. Or I can put my car keys on it, so when I leave, I am reminded.

Design of Everyday Things: 135