Use Laziness To Your Advantage - The 20 Second Rule

Summary

This video, sponsored by Skillshare, explores how to overcome laziness and bad habits by adjusting default behaviors. It introduces the '20 Second Rule' from Shawn Achor's book, 'The Happiness Advantage,' which suggests making positive habits easier to start by reducing effort, while increasing barriers for negative habits. The video emphasizes how small changes in surroundings and routine can have a big impact on behavior. It ends by promoting Skillshare and its habit formation class to help viewers further improve their lives.

Takeaways

• 🎸 The 20 Second Rule: Make desired behaviors easier and undesired behaviors harder by adding or reducing small barriers to action.
• 💡 Our default behaviors often occur on autopilot and can be positive or negative. We can re-examine and change them like we change default phone settings.
• 🎮 Activation energy is the initial effort required to start a task. Reducing this energy can increase the likelihood of doing desired activities.
• 📺 Example: Shawn Achor made playing the guitar easier by placing it in the living room, while making watching TV harder by removing remote batteries.
• 🏋️ Gym tip: To work out more, make your gym accessible and prepare your gear ahead of time to reduce effort and friction.
• 🍎 Healthy eating: Remove unhealthy foods from your environment and prepare healthy meals in advance to make better food choices easier.
• 📱 Focus tip: Keep your phone in another room or delete distracting apps to reduce unintentional phone use during work or study.
• 🚴 Small barriers matter: Even minor obstacles, like taking 3 minutes to get a bike from the basement, can deter people from engaging in activities they enjoy.
• 🛠️ Tailor strategies to your own situation: Think about where you can add or reduce barriers to influence your default behaviors.
• 📚 Skillshare sponsorship: A learning platform offering classes, including one on habit formation by Thomas Frank, with a free trial available through the video link.

Q & A

What is the primary challenge people face when trying to change their behavior?

The primary challenge is that people tend to default to easy or convenient behaviors, especially when they are tired or stressed. This makes it difficult to initiate actions that require more effort, even if those actions align with their goals.

What is the '20 Second Rule' and how does it work?

The '20 Second Rule' is a strategy to make desirable behaviors easier by reducing the time or effort needed to start them by about 20 seconds. Conversely, it makes unwanted behaviors harder by adding small barriers to them. This helps shift default behaviors toward more positive habits.

How did Shawn Achor apply the 20 Second Rule to his guitar practice and TV watching habits?

Shawn Achor made guitar practice easier by keeping his guitar out of its case and within easy reach, reducing the time it took to start playing. For TV watching, he made it harder by removing the batteries from his remote and placing them in another room, adding an inconvenience that discouraged him from defaulting to watching TV.

What is 'activation energy' in the context of behavior change?

Activation energy refers to the amount of effort or steps required to start a behavior. The higher the activation energy, the less likely a person is to start the activity, especially when they feel tired or lazy.

Why do people often avoid activities they enjoy, like cycling or working out, even though they know it will benefit them?

People avoid these activities because of the small barriers or inconveniences that stand in the way, like preparing gym clothes or retrieving a bike from storage. These minor steps add activation energy, making it easier to default to less beneficial behaviors.

How can changing your surroundings influence your behavior according to the script?

Changing your surroundings can either reduce or increase activation energy for certain behaviors. For example, placing a guitar within reach makes it easier to practice, while moving a TV remote’s batteries to another room makes watching TV harder.

How can the 20 Second Rule be applied to phone use during work or study?

To reduce unintentional phone use, you can place your phone in another room or make it harder to access distracting apps by moving them to a less convenient folder. This increases the effort required to check your phone and helps you focus on work.

What are some practical ways to use the 20 Second Rule to exercise more often?

You can apply the 20 Second Rule by keeping your gym bag packed and ready, choosing a gym that’s close to home or work, or even sleeping in your workout clothes so that you reduce the barriers to exercising.

How can people apply the 20 Second Rule to improve their eating habits?

One way to apply the 20 Second Rule for better eating habits is to remove unhealthy food from your home, making it harder to access. You can also prepare healthy meals in advance, making it easier to choose a nutritious option when you’re hungry.

How does Skillshare relate to the 20 Second Rule in the context of learning?

Skillshare is presented as an easy way to learn new skills with minimal activation energy. By bookmarking the website or setting it as your homepage, you reduce the effort needed to start learning, aligning with the 20 Second Rule.