1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: Hello, How I work, Listener. My latest book, The Health 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Habit is coming out on January nine, but you can 3 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: pre order it now wherever you buy books. If you're 4 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: stuck in a cycle of unhealthy habits, then The Health 5 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: Habit will help you design a personalized, science backed plan 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: to change your habits for good. My name is doctor 7 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: Amantha Imber. I'm an organizational psychologist and the founder of 8 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: behavior change consultancy Inventium. And this is how I Work, 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: a show about how to help you get so much 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,239 Speaker 1: more out of the hours in your day. This is 11 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: my final week of sharing an extract from my new book, 12 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: The Health Habit. Today's extract is all about the power 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: of hall passes in making new habits stick. I am 14 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: an all or nothing kind of person. As I previously shared, 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: while I was writing the first draft of this manuscript, 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: I wrote one thousand words per day, every single day 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: until it was done. Even while on a five day 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: holiday in sunny Nooser, I still wrote one thousand words 19 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,759 Speaker 1: a day. And I say this not to brag about 20 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,680 Speaker 1: my dedication to the craft of writing, although when on deadline, 21 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: yes I'm very dedicated, but rather to demonstrate how all 22 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: or nothing I am to perhaps quite a ridiculous degree. 23 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,319 Speaker 1: But here's the problem with being like me. If shit happens, 24 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: as it so often does, it's easy to fall off 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 1: the habit wagon. You might be trying to start a 26 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: daily morning meditation habit, but if you have a sick 27 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: kid who snug into your bed at three am and 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: sneezed and coughed in your face until your alarm went 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: off at six AM, that plan is probably going to 30 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: go out the window when your morning starts with trying 31 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: to wash snot off your bed sheets, along with comforting 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: said snot once to two. Of course, it's surprising how 33 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: demotivating missing one morning can be. It's easy to give up. 34 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 1: The perfectionist self talker in you is not only berating you, 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: but also saying you're unable to stick to a meditation habit. 36 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: So rather than fail, it's best to revert to being 37 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: a non meditating stress head. Even though your stress levels 38 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: may increase, at least you won't be a failure. Psychologists 39 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: have a name for this. They call it the what 40 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: the hell effect. It's been studied a lot in the 41 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 1: context of health, especially in people trying to lose weight. 42 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: Imagine you're on a restrictive eating plan, and you're existing 43 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: on boiled chicken and broccoli and not much else. One evening, 44 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,639 Speaker 1: you see your partner crack open a block of creamy 45 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: chocolate and you can't take it anymore. You must eat 46 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: the chocolate. You break off a square, and then another 47 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: one and another, until there is no more block. You 48 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: then stop and reflect on your behavior and think to yourself, well, 49 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: I've already broken my diet. What what the hell? I may 50 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: as well keep eating whatever I want, and then it's 51 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: bye bye to any other errant blocks of chopk and 52 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: non diet friendly food. And of course it's also by 53 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: by diet. Associate Professor John Basheers from Harvard Business School 54 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: led research investigating the impact of having a strict exercise 55 00:03:11,639 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: routine versus a flexible one on how often people visit 56 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: the gym. The researchers parted with Google, where officers typically 57 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 1: have an on site JIM, making it easy to measure 58 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: JIM attendance. More than two thousand Googlers took part in 59 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: the study. Some of the employees were assigned to be 60 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,040 Speaker 1: routine Rachel's and some flexible Fernando's. As Professor Katie Milkman, 61 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: one of the co authors affectionately referred to them. The 62 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: routine Rachels were given a small financial incentive to visit 63 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: the gym during a specific two hour window, while the 64 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: flexible Fernandos were incentivized for doing a workout at the 65 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: gym at any time. Common sense would suggest that when 66 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: we make something a routine that is engaging the same 67 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: activity at the same time, we will do it more regularly. However, 68 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: the researchers found the opposite to be true. The flexible 69 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 1: fornans Ando's exercised more regularly. This led Basher's and his 70 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: colleagues to conclude that the routine Rachel's, who had very 71 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: consistent exercise times, had built routines that were brittle. Imagine 72 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: you're a six am gym goer. Now let's say you 73 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,159 Speaker 1: have a late night out with some work mates. The 74 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: following morning, your five thirty am alarm goes off time 75 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: to get dressed for the gym, but you hit snooze 76 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: and end up sleeping till seven am. If six am 77 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: is your exercise time, it becomes really easy to say 78 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: to yourself, oh, well, I've missed my workout window. I'll 79 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: get back on track next week, You've essentially built an 80 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: all or nothing routine. In contrast, if you're a flexible 81 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,800 Speaker 1: Fernando and you have a sleep in, it doesn't matter. 82 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 1: Your routine isn't rigid. You can just go to the 83 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: gym at line sure after work. Instead, it's a no 84 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: matter what routine instead of an all or nothing one. 85 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: Flexibility creates robustness, which makes the routine easier to stick to. 86 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: The Results of the flexible Fernando's exercising more regular compared 87 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: to the routine Rachel's continued after the experiment was over, 88 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: even though they were no longer receiving financial incentives. It 89 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: turns out that flexibility is powerful when it comes to 90 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: building new routines. Another way to look at flexibility is 91 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: not about time of day, but instead about regularity of behavior. 92 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: There is a reason cheat days are so popular and 93 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: by some accounts, very effective when you're on a diet. Ironically, 94 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: being given permission to break your routine makes you more 95 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: likely to stick to it. Assistant Professor Marissa Shariff from 96 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: Wharton and Professor Suzanne Shu from UCLA looked at the 97 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: impact of having emergency reserves i e. A Hall pass 98 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:44,120 Speaker 1: on helping people feel more committed to a goal in 99 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: the face of mini failures. Two hundred and seventy three 100 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,640 Speaker 1: university staff and students were set a daily steps target 101 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: calculated at one hundred and twenty percent more than what 102 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: they would normally walk. Some people were given two hall 103 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: passes per week, meaning they were allowed to skip hitting 104 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: their step goal twice a week. Others did not have 105 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: this luxury and were expected to hit their goal every 106 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: single day for one month. Shariff and Chu found that 107 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: the hall pass group hit their step target over forty 108 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: percent more frequently than the group that did not enjoy 109 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,720 Speaker 1: this luxury. In addition, they walked up to twenty percent 110 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: more steps. The researchers also found that people in the 111 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: hall pass group were more likely to reach their step 112 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: goal the day after they had failed to hit it. 113 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: In other words, having the hall pass up their sleeve 114 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: made them more persistent in the face of a small 115 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: failure or setback towards their monthly goal. In another experiment 116 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: conducted by the same researchers, they found that people who 117 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: have a hall pass demonstrate the same level of persistence 118 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: after a failure or a success such as hitting ones 119 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,720 Speaker 1: daily step target, which suggests that the hall pass strategy 120 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: helps people sustain their level of effort both after a 121 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: setback or a win. In a paper titled the Benefits 122 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: of behaving badly on occasion, how could you resist? Reading that? One? 123 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: Associate Professor Rita Coelo de Vail from the Catalyca Lisbon 124 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: School of Business and Economics and her colleagues followed a 125 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: group of people on a diet for two weeks. One 126 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: cohort was allowed to have a cheap day once a week, 127 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: while the other group did not have such good fortune. 128 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: Those who were in the cheap day group lost just 129 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: as much weight as those with no reprise from the diet. 130 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: In addition, their motivation was higher and they found the 131 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: diet more enjoyable. I began this chapter by bragging about 132 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: my ability to write one thousand words per day every day. 133 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: No hall passes needed here. But then, rather ironically, as 134 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: I was in the middle of writing this chapter on 135 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: hall passes, I received a call from my daughter's school 136 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: saying she was feeling unwell and I needed to pick 137 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: her up immediately. Needless to say, my focus was out 138 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: of whack for the rest of the day. It was 139 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: the first time that I didn't hit my thousand word 140 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: targets since setting the goal. The perfectionist in me hated 141 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,239 Speaker 1: this fact, But instead I just gave myself a hall pass, 142 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: and the following day I was able to easily hit 143 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: my daily target harness the hero. Step one, set a 144 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,840 Speaker 1: month long goal for yourself in relation to your health habit. 145 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: You might commit to doing it daily for thirty days. 146 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: For example, you will only use your bed for sleep 147 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: and sex for the next month. Step two. Define your 148 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: hall pass, which might be the freedom to miss the 149 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: goal on two occasions per week. The research cited in 150 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,239 Speaker 1: this chapter suggests that twice per week is a sufficient amount. 151 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:32,960 Speaker 1: Step three. If you're tracking your progress visually, such as 152 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: using a street board as referred to earlier in the book, 153 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 1: make your hall passes visual two. They might be a 154 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: ticket shaped piece of paper that says hall pass. For example, 155 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: step forward on days where you fail to hit your goal, 156 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 1: stick your hall pass where you are tracking your progress, 157 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: or you can just say to yourself that it's a 158 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: hall pass day. By using this strategy, you'll continue to 159 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: stride towards your goal, even in the face of the 160 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: occasional and inevitable setback. In addition, having Hall passes should 161 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: give you more confidence in setting an ambitious goal because 162 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: you know you have a buffer. If you found today's 163 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: episode useful, then I guarantee you will love my new book, 164 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: The Health Habit. Search for The Health Habit wherever you 165 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: get your books and pre order your coffee today. Thank 166 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: you for sharing part of your day with me by 167 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 1: listening to How I Work. If you're keen for more 168 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: tips on how to work better, connect with me via 169 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: LinkedIn or Instagram. I'm very easy to find. Just search 170 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 1: for Amantha Imba. How I Work was recorded on the 171 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: traditional land of the Warrangery people, part of the kool 172 00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: And Nation. I am so grateful for being able to 173 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: work and live on this beautiful land and I want 174 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: to pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. 175 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,680 Speaker 1: How I Work is produced by Inventium with production support 176 00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: from Dead Set Studios. And thank you to Martin Nimba 177 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: who did the audio mix and makes everything sound better 178 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 1: than it would have otherwise.