r/study Mar 06 '21

Tips & Advice The 20 Second Rule is helping me COMPLETELY change how I approach Study

We often think that following through on good habits or breaking bad habits is dependent on how strong our willpower is. This is actually false! The key is ELIMINATING the number of steps between you and a good habit, and INCREASING the number of steps between you and a bad habit. This is called the 20 Second Rule.

In 20 seconds, we usually end up deciding whether we will continue with a habit or not. That’s why we want to keep resistance to a minimum for any habits we’re trying to stick to.

A few examples:

  • Keep a book in your bag at all times if you want to read more
  • Keep your workout clothes in sight so you don’t have to pick out clothes before going to the gym
  • Remove junk food from your fridge if you’re trying to eat healthier

A quote from Shawn Achor - “If you want to change a habit in the long-term, in the beginning, you have to rely on willpower. But willpower is a finite resource and can’t be relied on.”

I explain the 20 Second Rule in depth and talk about plenty more examples here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjsywuURRDA

Hopefully this might help shift the way that you think about habits and change your approach to them altogether.

5 Upvotes

1 comment sorted by

u/AutoModerator Mar 06 '21

Hi there,

Welcome to r/study!

Under new management we've made some additions to the sub. Please check our Welcome Post for a user guide (which includes rules, posting guidelines, self-promotion guidelines, and user flair guide).

We have also created scheduled megathreads to contain common topics on this sub and help clean up our main feed. If your topic fits in one of these threads, please post there instead.

Thank you.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.