18: Designing and Building Habits

Kasia (00:00.91)
How is it with habit building? I think he already has a lot of clips, a lot of books on the subject. I wonder if this is the right and useful thing enough, because...

We often start the new year with the same topics and I do not hide that I started listening to how habit building is described this year and I found myself lifting the glove to talk about this topic not only about building habits, but about designing habits.

Kasia (00:43.696)
only takes into account context, errors, iterations. That's why today I'm going to bring my favorite areas of behavioral economics design into the topic of habits, to dispel some doubts and help you design the right habits for this year. My name is Kasia Szczesna, I run Design Mentorship.

This is also a very important episode for me because it is the first episode that is here on YouTube, but it will also be on other platforms of course. Therefore, let's talk. I hope that if there are any questions, doubts, then ask me in the comment. But about this topic that I think everyone knows everything about. We have many books, we have many episodes, podcasts, talks.

Kasia (01:36.976)
to the book, whether it is studies that have already been reinterpreted or are we following studies, because we ourselves are also changing a lot and the more the way technology creates and the amount of information, the pace, and even more so social media, which show us that we read less and less, we have less and less time and we want to reach for it more and more. Therefore, starting this topic, I would like to generally dispel here

interpretation, because I already wanted to talk about habit design.

Design because, as I mentioned, here we are talking about things that are important in terms of creation. So we have an environmental context, a context to understand ourselves better. We have elements of making mistakes, which is totally natural, even though it is hard for us to do so. I think even more so in the Polish environment. We don't like to talk about it, we don't like to commit.

needed to develop de-education, but he realizes that we can give space for it, but we can feel bad about it anyway, so at first it may be cool that okay, let's make mistakes, but later it can hurt us, so playing with this topic too is another thing.

Returning to these habits, I recently made an analogy of what it is like to work with habits. I think it's cool that it can be compared to photo retouching, when we have two options, for example on our phones, in the usual applications, this is how I think, where we can apply a filter that works very fast, we have an immediate effect right away and it seems to me that

Kasia (03:28.846)
Many people expect such a quick effect because we decided to click and we want that effect, and yet the design of habits relies a little on this manual change of light, contrast, saturation, colors. We also have to play a little with these elements and see what actually works in this quality of photo. What's more...

Being I think that 10 years ago at a night photography course, I got such information from the teacher that the better I prepare my equipment, the shutter, the lighting in the process of taking a photo, the less time I will spend on retouching, just then in Photoshop and...

And I think that's also a nice analogy to habit. The more we prepare for it, the better we can go into it and extract more benefits for us, the effects of this designed habit. And that's why I would like to break down some things that are there that I personally don't hear in many conversations. I realize we have...

brilliant books and good research on the subject. We have James Clear, Atomic Habits, or we have Bej-Jay Fogg, Tiny Habits. Therefore, I would not like to interpret these books here, because there is a lot of talk about them, if you want to read some literature, I think they are two cool items, but there is a lot of talk about them, we have a lot of reviews on the net too. Therefore, I would like to say about this,

what I generally lack in these conversations and what we can learn from the design environment and from the behavioral economics environment that can give us better, help us get into habit design. I think one of those first elements, which is very, very important, is context. And he, too, is touched on in these books. However...

Kasia (05:45.07)
What understanding of what kind of environment we have, how it is designed, how it is available to us, is wildly relevant.

What is this also due to? We can also talk about the availability of some objects, that we have something at our fingertips, but also what is happening at that moment, that is, bombardment with information, bombardment with messages, telephones, we are constantly pushed through and even though we have a lot of it, we reach for this phone anyway. So also important is how this environment should look, which affects well and beneficially

our habits that we wish we hadn't been precipitated. I think it will also be a huge value over the years for us to stick to our own goal, our own themes. A lot of things will be distractors, novelties that will knock us out of it. Nor am I saying not to develop in these directions, but it is also worth looking at.

What's knocking us out? Are these notifications? Is it social media? Or are these things in the house that distract us in some way?

how our desk looks, or our house, does it help us in these good habits, is it a matter of, I don't know how to play sports, or a food issue, what is available to us in terms of speed, yes, reaching, at arm's length, or going to the kitchen and seeing what we can eat, that's why...

Kasia (07:25.838)
it is worth taking care of what this context looks like, what the environment looks like, and this is also an extremely important element of either design or behavioral design, in order to best understand the environment in which we begin to operate.

To build good habits, we must discipline the environment so that we do not have to keep an eye on ourselves all the time. We have our limitations, so let's not beat ourselves up for the fact that, for example, at the end of the day, when we are tired, we reach for something or reach for the phone. It's ubiquitous, there we have this very reward system, where this dopamine is supposed to be at a high level

Therefore, it is worth thinking about how we can play with our applications or notifications. It is not necessary to disconnect from it immediately, but perhaps turn it off for a while, until we do the most important things, tasks, but also do not spend valuable time with family or friends, so that we do not have to have this phone with us, and actually use this time for value.

Valuable conversations or valuable people.

Kasia (08:50.862)
Another thing worth saying here is that we have this reflective system, the logical system, where we reflect on what is important to us, what are our values, who we want to become.

we can be guided by what identity we want to have, which is also referred to here a little in the books, when they talk about us being, heading to that place where we would like to be. It is only a question of whether we are able to set ourselves the right values, whether we know them or if we interpret them well. I put a very big question mark here, but it's not like everyone needs to know it either

But more than that, what we have and have no influence on is how we act quickly. Do we have time to reflect on what our values are, what we strive for, more than once.

It is how this context flows down on us and how many stimuli we have, they can overcome where we are aiming. We strive for this is a long-term process that is always repulsed in favor of benefits now. So the reward system should also be taken into account, but that too in a moment. But let's remember that we act and act quickly, emotionally, intuitively, more and more often.

I do not want to say that we think less, but in general our habits it is a matter of 40-50% of our day. That's 43 percent if I were to be more precise. Therefore, taking care of these habits as they are designed make our day. Therefore, hence this topic.

Kasia (10:48.688)
boycotts do not direct us towards our identity, knowledge, values therefore I would not like us to fixate on the fact that we should know ourselves better, we get to know ourselves all the time, it is a process and we will not know it day by day I think that it is often poorly defined and often we still have external motivations that guide us motivations for example inserting I do not know, some interesting places or

elements of our lives on social media. The question is whether this is valuable enough, or is it enough motivation to make changes, but given habit design and behavioral economics, it is known that motivation is not enough. We have here the factors of precisely the elements of our environment, we have the magnitude of doing our action, we can reach great effects with small steps,

or what stimulus we have that directs us. But also precisely the reward that I mentioned earlier, because without dopamine we have no desire, we do not have this desire, therefore it is worth taking care of it. And what happens during the day, we often deliver it often too quickly, yes? Just by reaching for the phone, for notifications, for information. Therefore, it is also worth postponing this day, thinking,

this function, this element, look at social media for example and think about what dopamine we can raise and what reward we can give ourselves for doing a given habit. Often it is not only functional, financial, material benefits, but also emotional, hedonistic ones, because they are mostly for us

The closest, most achieve the best results in the design of habits, so it is worth considering what emotions we want to feel after the end of a given activity and what it can be. Whether it's a nice dance, or a smile, or a thank you. Here I will also go back to Tiny Habits eBay J-Focus, which says that claps after completing a given activity,

Kasia (13:14.576)
any benefit must be immediate after the exercise of habits. Then our head also feels that it is necessary because we pursue pleasure, we strive for things that bring us joy, and therefore this element of designing benefits and habit is a very important factor. What's more...

What I also mentioned is the size of the activity performed. Little by little, little steps, we get better every day, yes, maybe 1% every day, I also know if he talks about it a lot, but sometimes it is, sometimes it can be too small a step to boost our motivation. So it is also worth considering how small this step can be.

so that we also feel the benefit of practicing habits. Of course, the topic of running, which is always brought up somewhere here about building habits, just for me the topic is very, very close, running for more than a dozen years. Maybe pulling those shoes out in this hallway isn't enough for our motivation to be happy, so maybe let's get out of this house and take a little walk. Therefore, it is worth reflecting on what works for us, to the extent that we can afford it in our own context.

How much time can we give ourselves and think about how beneficial it will be for us to perform a given activity but we also have the satisfaction of taking this step. What's also key to hearing recently about building these habits is that you need to make time for habits. I think it's the time that makes a habit

And so we can save ourselves that time. It's fun to build a habit in everyday life, not in isolation from the fact that now we have a week off and now we will take the habit. Later, when we have life, life responsibilities, work, it is difficult to weave this habit into that day, when we have an orderly, orderly, not arranged, but quite intense day and suddenly we do not have time for this habit,

Kasia (15:35.888)
We're tired, something knocked us out, right? So we can have a bad mood after work or an uncool situation with a child, yes? So it is worth thinking at what point of the day, precisely in this context of our environment, where we can place this habit. What's crucial for me in building my, designing my habits, is to instill that habit, right?

to the activity in question.

for it to go further. This is also called habit building. So from my perspective, when I tried to go out every day, get up from the computer, having such days that sitting and not seeing the end of my list, there were days when I did not see the time for it, because I think that time can be done always. And one of those things was dinner.

I said I was leaving after lunch. And I'm not hiding that it's been working for almost a year now. Of course, I took into account the amount of time I could afford. It wasn't always an hour time, was it? So I was adjusting to my day, how much I was able to do it, but those minutes also increased. I'm not saying that every day, but sometimes I walked for a week, before 15, I don't know, later after half an hour. So I also cared about how they were formed.

Another thing that is very important is that sometimes we leave it to ourselves, so that it develops. And I think a cool example of that is learning languages in general, that sometimes we're not able to pass some level and wonder what's going on here, why. And I think we lack ways of looking at the stages of development, they are no longer exemplary when it comes to the basic levels,

Kasia (17:39.824)
The road will go further than the advanced levels. We need different tools, different measurement of effects, maybe other stimuli, so not always what they advise us in a language learning webinar will be good for each level. Therefore, I return to this context again to better understand it and what is happening to us.

works on us. Moreover, I think it has already been knocked out of the market, I hope, but perhaps you will still find it somewhere. There is no such thing as 21 days, so that is the time to form a habit to design a habit. It's about repetition, how can we repeat, how can we compare the person who does?

This activity is 5 minutes a day, and the other does an hour a day. So a completely different perspective, a different space, a different time to do the same activity. Therefore, it is worth looking at the number of repetitions, how much time and desire we actually have, motivation, attention to this behavior. For the reason that

Returning to the market example, how long will it take for us to disguise ourselves? And this is also an example from Design Mentorship, having questions like this, how long it will take me, well unfortunately, sometimes I have to answer, it depends, it depends on the time we can dedicate to ourselves. What elements will be important to us during the day? How do we approach disguise?

what we will use, whether it will be passive listening, whether it will be active action for example with a mentor on a project, in a group, how we will further stimulate ourselves, and also taking into account rest. Moreover, I think it is worth saying here that

Kasia (19:37.742)
Let's take into account the reality we have, not just the imagination. I will also return here to this identity that I was talking about, because we can imagine ourselves as a runner, as an expert.

but also consider what separates us from point A to B. What I think is crucial at this point in the market, whether training, development market, or business development, to not only think about that direction, but to think about what we have to do from our place to that first, our direction, our goal to this point B and focus on the steps. Because we often take into account from training when experts are...

long, long away from us, yes, and we are at the beginning of disguise. AND...

We do not know exactly what these steps should look like, not yet reaching the level of an expert, only to the level of a person who is already, for example, on the market. Therefore, it is useful to know in the steps what we are actually going to do, what are the specific benefits, what specific behaviors, the specific elements that influence it. Being aware of this sets our day, sets us up to design habits.

Behavioral approach is a model of capability, opportunity, motivation, which affects behavior, that is, we are talking here about opportunities, about opportunities, about abilities, about how we can design a habit. It's also feedback that works on itself, so it's not just that as we have a high

Kasia (21:20.174)
motivation, it will all work, we must take into account our abilities. Abilities for example, I think I'll go back to running, yeah? If we know that we have never run and have not had stymicity, I guess many people will be able to exercise intensely.

I think maybe a Friday will come in a month, given my experience. Only whether it is good or whether it is good for the joints, I am already entering into another expertise. But I also mean that we take into account our physical abilities, our mental abilities, that's where we start from. Perhaps this one kilometer will work in 2-3 weeks. Therefore, how we interpret what sits inside us and where we start, that is, our physical and psychological capacities,

it is better to move than just to look in that direction of such a polar star that awaits us there, for example, this marathon. Of course, opportunities, that is, opportunity, which also floats on us, social opportunities. Can we afford the price, the time?

And also the question is how much time we can devote to each other during the day, whether a week for this running or for this disguise. So asking ourselves some of the right questions, all of a sudden, I'll just honestly emphasize this, it already helps us understand where we are and how much time we might possibly need.

Furthermore, going back to the disguise, I see from the conversations at Design Mentorship that sometimes it is impossible to determine to a person entering the industry how much time they will actually need without knowing the industry. Therefore, mentors come to the rescue here, who tell how long something like this can take, to what level, so the motivating factor is still triggered here, because we have social proof, we have people who motivate us.

Kasia (23:22.256)
and we have such a proverbial whip. That's why...

How we look at our capabilities is crucial here. And motivation. Motivation is often embedded in emotions, so here it is worth touching on the elements that give us joy, satisfaction, satisfaction, which is actually what we strive for, but I urge that this motivation be internal rather than external, but I think that for motivation it is a completely different episode to talk about it.

Let's remember that motivation is not just one element that will be that one horse that will push us to design a habit, but it is a factor that strongly influences.

to make it work. Moreover, I think our optimistic plans and it comes from our nature that we look too optimistic more than once and want to do something in a short period of time, which leads us to a certain rigidity, to a certain overload of the schedule. It looks cool on the calendar, it looks different in life, especially since we have it stuffed between

and sometimes we just need a breath, and the calendar doesn't need a breath. The calendar does not need breaks. There is simply a dash in the notebooks that separates, and this dash sometimes takes a while with us. Therefore, it is worth thinking about whether this rigidity and this design of habit, for example, day after day, is beneficial for us, because if we do not do something one day, even though we have done this activity for 6 days, it can arouse in us a certain...

Kasia (25:10.64)
anxiety, some dissatisfaction with us, is that we have not done it, so perhaps it is not a factor that has strongly influenced this increase in this habit, but on our psyche and on our emotions well. Moreover, I will refer here to Katie Milkman's study.

which has been working with thousands of Google employees on developing sustainable habits. These were two groups of workers in the United States, probably 2,500 people, who were going to start going to the gym in order to introduce a certain healthy lifestyle. And one of these will divide, of course, into two groups.

Kasia (26:00.848)
At a specific time and she got money for it. Gyms were available in the company. It also implies that there was a certain environmental ease here, that this gym was not located at the other end of the city, but was located in the office. So there was motivation, there was money and there was also the possibility of this space. Moreover, the second group also went to the gym, received less money, but was supposed to go to the gym.

when he wants. So the first group, if I didn't mention it, was supposed to go to a specific hour, probably the sixth, and the second group was to choose that time at will. And what did we find out after these studies? After several decades, almost a year, of time, when they also studied and checked what was happening to these people, it turned out that two groups built this habit, which you can say is not strange, everything worked, which they also mentioned earlier.

whether that context, or motivation, or triggers, but it turned out that the group that went to this gym at any hour built a more lasting habit. What it turned out was that people who were supposed to walk at the right time when something was happening in their day, for example, if the child got sick or something went wrong, it turned out that they didn't even get up at that 6 in the morning, it turned out that later it was hard for them

during the day. People who did it flexibly, who looked at their day, what was happening, how much strength they had and how much time they could afford, were found to have built a more lasting habit.

Rigidity is the enemy of building a permanent habit, and I also urge you not to impose yourself without knowing what networks. I think this habit is evolution, not revolution, because we don't like sudden changes. It is difficult for us to assimilate, we also always return to things that we simply know, so I urge you to take small steps, even though we can be

Kasia (28:17.392)
Moreover, I think about these habits. I think this element is discussed in various meetings. That's the plan we have. This is also due to our thought processes, where we work much better, how we know what awaits us, where we are going, what concrete we have to do, how many of these tasks are, how much time we will spend. This is the so-called gradient effect. So not only

looking at this goal, a direction that is certainly big and ambitious, but also this plan of small steps teaches us humility. We are beginning to understand that if we do not go through this stage, we will not jump to the next, so it is totally normal for us to have a specific plan in our nature and it is not something that comes out of the guidebooks. Therefore, I strongly urge you to...

make plans, but also with the support of people who are somewhere or have already passed this path, know these topics and know what comes next and how much time, for example, needs to be devoted to it. So I urge you to be rational, however it sounds in a bombed-out world.

bombarded with information and our intuitive approach to building plans with humility to ourselves, to the context, to the possibilities.

Kasia (30:03.918)
Yes, speaking of these topics, I think that's all I would like to mention today regarding the design of habits. I talk about when the second week of the new year passes, so I hope that this motivation of yours has not decreased, but I will also understand if it has dropped after those two weeks.

Therefore, my small goal is to be able to raise this...

a topic from the ground, which is perhaps already slowly being swept under the carpet, to look at it from a completely different angle, can slightly lower the ambition and rigidity of this calendar and approach it in a design way, that is, understand more the moment in which we are, our environment and influence it better, the more that this tendency will grow, that we do not have time for rational choices

we do because of the amount of information on how technology guides us and its development does not lead to this either, it does not train in us this analytical thinking or critical thinking, which will also be very important in the years to come. Therefore, it is worth taking care of those factors, which are such stimuli that simply affect us during the day.

discipline ourselves and think that I do not touch anything, only this environment can be much more polite to us. I encourage not only podcasts, books, but also psychology, behavioral economics, research, human nature, because many topics are interpreted.

Kasia (32:04.336)
It's just a question of where this knowledge comes from. That's why I urge you very, very much to test your faith... your faith... your credibility. It's just... Therefore, I strongly encourage reliable sources, materials, people who share this knowledge. So let's look at it, and if we're able, let's run some of that critical thinking

habits that tend to fall sometimes, but let's also lift them off the ground and make them work for us well and precisely in accordance with us, and not just with external factors. So thank you so much for making it to this point. I hope this helps you lose track of your goals this new year. Thank you again. I'll see you.