Want to start cooking at home more or working out regularly? Habit loops and a habit sequence can help get you there. Thanks to a viral TikTok video from Shelby Sacco, the term “habit loops” is catching on. In the clip, she explains that she uses a loop of a cue, routine and reward to make sure she sticks to healthy habits like working out every morning.
In Shelby’s case, the cue is her alarm clock going off. She created the routine of sitting up and drinking water when she hears the cue, then she works out in the morning and rewards herself with that by treating herself to new socks and athleisure. But she’s not an expert, so does this habit loop method actually work?
- Psychologist Dr. Wendy Wood says Shelby’s right that a cue, leading to a routine, leading to a reward can build habits, but she notes that it’s more of a sequence, not a loop, because the reward doesn’t lead back to the cue.
- Habit and behavior science researcher Phillippa Lally agrees that “cues, behavior and rewards are all central to habits,” but she says it’s not as easy as Shelby makes it sound.
How to actually use a habit sequence to form a healthy habit, according to these experts:
- Give it time - Shelby claims it only takes three weeks to turn a hopeful habit into a routine, but Lally and Wood say it actually takes much longer. In one study Lally did, the average time it took to form a habit was 66 days, but it all depends on what you’re trying to do.
- Rewards are key to habit building - They don’t have to be material things, it could be only letting yourself read romance novels while on the cardio machines at the gym, but the reward has to be immediate.
- Keep it simple - Wood notes that the easier you can make the habit, the more likely it will become routine.
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