Any behaviour that can be reduced to a routine is one less behaviour that we must spend time and energy consciously thinking about and deciding upon. Habits therefore free up time and energy for other matters. As Charles Duhigg puts it in his book “The power of habit”, “this effort-saving instinct is a huge advantage… [for] an efficient brain… allows us to stop thinking constantly about basic behaviours, such as walking and choosing what to eat, so we can devote mental energy to inventing spears, irrigation systems, and, eventually, airplanes and video games”. Duhigg then moves into the area of how they are formed and how our brains fall into habits and draws on the research from disciplines such as – advertising, sports, addiction, religion and others. According to Duhigg, it comes down to a simple,three-part loop: cue, routine and reward.
In the author’s own words: “first, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical, mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future”. If everything lines up, the brain ‘remembers’ the loop, and is predisposed to using the same routine when the same cue comes up again in the future.
The more often the brain uses the loop to good effect the deeper the behaviour becomes ingrained— to the point where the behaviour itself becomes more and more automatic. Eventually, the cue ends up being so bound up with the reward that the cue itself will trigger a craving for the reward: “the cue and reward become intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges”. Habits could be brought about by a craving for positive emotions, or accomplishment or relationships.
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