Habit-Hacking and the Modern Smart Home
This is the story of two Scotts: Strong Scott (that’s me on Sunday afternoon - relaxed, coffee in hand, being all intentional as I plan my upcoming week).
Then there’s Weak Scott (that’s me too, aimlessly scrolling some banal news feed on a Wednesday evening, feeling guilty about not working out). And this is the story of how Strong Scott leverages his smart home to win daily mental battles and manipulate Weak Scott with the help of technology.
To be more specific, I recently read James Clear’s excellent book, Atomic Habits. (It’s chock-full of great advice and insights; I highly recommend it.) One particularly useful concept he discusses is The Four Stages of Habit:
James Clear outlines the practical value of using this model to change one’s behavior (either to create good habits or break bad ones):
Whenever you want to change your behavior, you can simply ask yourself:
How can I make it obvious? [a strong cue, or trigger]
How can I make it attractive? [satisfy the craving]
How can I make it easy? [simplify the required response]
How can I make it satisfying? [have a reward]
Here’s where my smart home comes in. Turns out, Strong Scott keeps discovering simple, effective (and sometimes nefarious) ways to use his smart home to encourage and manipulate Weak Scott as we both work together towards a (slightly schizophrenic) Better Scott. I thought I’d talk through some of these self-hack experiments, organized by the four stages of habit:
Step 1: Cues (Strong, Obvious Triggers)
Honestly, this one’s a no-brainer if you have smart speakers in your house. Strong Scott uses Google Routines with Broadcasting to literally speak to Weak Scott every evening and tell him, “Go workout”. It sounds silly, but every evening at 8pm the smart speaker in my living room speaks, out loud, at medium volume: “Go workout.” It’s strangely jarring, authoritative and triggering, in a good way. And off I (usually) go to start my evening routine.
(By the way: this works on kids too; I have some daddy-guilt over this but suffice it to say that every weekday morning at 7:30am, all the smart speakers in the house simultaneously say “Oh children! It’s time to do your morning chores.” And the kids laugh, and then they go do their chores. It’s amazing.)
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Step 2: Craving (Make it Attractive)
In the immortal words of Clint Black, “Ain’t if funny how a melody…can bring back a memory? Take you to another place in time; completely change your state of mind!”
Music certainly has that effect on me, which makes it easy to hack my psyche via technology. I have various playlists for working out, running, focus time, etc. and I’ve found that just starting one of these playlists on a smart speaker, earbuds, or headphones is a great motivator for whatever task I’m trying to convince myself to start.
Step 3: Response (Make it Easy, and Hard to Ignore)
Jumping back to the workout example in step 1, when I hear “Go workout”, if I respond with “Start my workout”, another Google Routine opens my workout app on my phone (which is a great visual cue especially if I was using my smartphone at the time) and starts some workout music on the smart speaker downstairs in our workout area. All this together makes it easy for Weak Scott to get off his duff and workout. In fact, it’s actually kind of a hassle to ignore, since I have to turn off music downstairs, close the workout app on my phone, etc. (WARNING: if you try this yourself, make sure Strong You is the only one who gets to set up automated routines. Don’t let Weak You get your hands on that weapon!)
Step 4: Reward (Or Punishment 😈 )
Rewards and punishments are another no-brainer with a smart home. It’s incredibly fun and easy to dream up ways to reward (actually, mostly punish) my weak self.
- Two things: bedtime, and electric blanket. Recently I got an electric blanket, so guess what? Smart plug + automated shutoff = no toasty-warm covers after 10pm. It’s ridiculous how often I’ve been reading a book I “couldn’t” put down (not even to go workout, see previous steps above), and yet at 9:50pm I simply close it mid-chapter rather than miss out on the first-world decadence of pre-warmed sheets. I haven’t decided whether to be proud of myself or disgusted. 🤔
- A related example: lights out at 10pm. I haven’t yet converted all my lights to smart switches (because reasons), but I’ve played with smart bulbs, one of which is in a lamp in our living room. Usually by 10pm it’s the only light left on in the living room, so… you guessed it: such is the power of the modern smart home that at exactly 10pm every evening I’m suddenly sitting in darkness. This used to be pretty effective both as a cue and a punishment. Although I must say that post-electric blanket, it’s rare for me to still be sitting in the living room at 10pm, so this hack may be past its use-by date. I’d still highly recommend it though if you’re trying to be disciplined about a consistent bedtime. It’s a worthy self-hack for the $20 cost for a couple of smart bulbs.
Use Technology for Good
So there you have it! Those are a few ways I’ve used my smart home to help me start new habits, break bad ones, and generally attempt to use technology as a force for good in my life. My experience so far tells me this is just the beginning; there’s a lot of room for further exploration here. I’d love to hear if anyone else has been down this path and if so, what’s worked for you.
