How to get into a running habit – A Behavior-Design Approach
Many of the most effective behavior change interventions are exceedingly small. Large changes often seem like the right approach – for example, throwing away every piece of junk food and only buying wholesome snacks. This can be a viable path for some. However, in this situation, most people will most likely binge outside of their homes.
In order for a behavior to be sustained, small tweaks are necessary. Just because the change is small, though, doesn’t mean the results won’t be large. A small, but consistent, change will produce significant results.
In addition, if we sustain our small changes, they will eventually start to pile up – leading to drastic lifestyle modifications.
In this post, I am going to show how this small-change approach can be used to get someone into the habit of running.
Step 1: Define a Behavior
The first step is to define the desired behavior.
In this situation, I desire to run for 45 minutes, 4 days each week.
Notice how I have made my goal measurable. Some people might be tempted to make their goal something like “I want to exercise more often”. This is too vague. It is impossible to measure your progress, or tell whether or not you have succeeded. My goal, on the other hand, is easily measurable. I either ran for 45 minutes on 4 different days last week, or I didn’t.
Step 2: Create an Ability Profile
The next step is to create an ability profile for your behavior.
According to BJ Fogg, ability is made up of six different components. Let’s go through his “Six Elements of Ability” to see where my ability is high, and where it is lacking.
Time
In this situation, I need to write out my schedule for each day and see where I have…
- A 1.5 hour block of time (since I need to shower etc.)
- Access to a shower
After doing this, I see that I can exercise during eleven or twelve different time periods each week. They are:
- each morning from 6:00 AM to 7:30 AM
- Monday afternoon from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
- Wednesday afternoon from 6:00PM to 7:30 PM
- Thursday evening from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM
- Friday evening from 7:00 to 8:30
- Saturday mid-morning from 10:00 to 11:30
I know that, from week to week, I can pick four of these times. However, for consistency’s sake, it is best to use the same times each week – since this creates a more persistent habit.
I decide to forgo the early morning times, since there’s a high probability of me sleeping through them. I also decide to get rid of the Saturday mid-morning time, since I sometimes like to sleep in on Saturday. This leaves four times:
- Monday afternoon from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
- Wednesday afternoon from 6:00PM to 7:30 PM
- Thursday evening from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM
- Friday evening from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
I know that I have high time-ability at these times, since I do not have any other commitments – and I have all of the necessary tools (shower etc.).
Money
For this behavior, money is not an issue. Running can be done outside, for free, or at a gym.
Physical Effort
The reason I do not currently have a running habit is because I often feel tired or sluggish. However, running is all about expending physical effort. What can I do? There are a
few different small tweaks that can lower this ability barrier.
First of all, I know that I am tired when I get home from work, and will probably get frustrated when looking for all my exercise gear. How many times have we all just decided to sit on the couch after tearing up our rooms looking for that pair of shorts? To combat this physical effort barrier, I decide to set out my exercise gear the morning of (or night before) my workout. This lowers the effort I need to expend at a critical decision point.
Second, at the beginning of my routine I can pick a running route that is fairly easy. This makes sure that the run is not too strenuous, which would most likely result in frustration and intermittent exercise.
Third, if the above two tweaks do not work, I can always choose another period of time during which I am less exhausted – on the weekends or in the mornings.
Brain Cycles
Decision making requires a lot of mental effort, and can be the difference between performing a behavior and doing nothing. How many times have you planned on going to the gym only to skip out after debating what to do. Should I do squats or bench presses today? Actually, should I just go running? Take the ambiguity out by planning out a week, or month, of workouts ahead of time.
Social Deviance
In certain areas, running in public might be uncomfortable. Perhaps you feel self conscious when running outside, since there are few other people doing it. In this situation, joining a running group or going to the gym would make the behavior less socially deviant.
Non-Routine
In this situation, we want to create a running habit. It is currently, by definition, non-routine for us. By running consistently at the same times, and perhaps sending ourselves calendar or email reminders, we can make the behavior more routine.
So there it is, our ability breakdown.
After you have created your own unique ability profile you need to…
Step 3: Knock down your ability barriers
We have already covered some easy solutions for each of the ability blockers listed above. However, below we combine them to create a coherent program.
Time: I will go running on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week.
- On Monday I will run from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
- On Wednesday I will run from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM.
- On Thursday I will run from 8:30 PM to 10:00 PM.
- On Friday I will run form 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
Physical Effort: In order to increase the probability that I will run, I will gather and lay out my running gear the evening before each of my runs. I will also choose a series of less strenuous runs for the first few weeks.
Brain Cycles: In order to lower the chance that I will get frustrated while making a choice, and thus decide not to run, I will plan out my workouts a week in advance.
Non-Routine: Finally, in order to make sure that I consistently run at these times, thus making it a habit, I will set up SMS phone reminders using a service like task.fm.
Step 4: Create Triggers
In order to remind myself to run, I have to set up some cues. Each Sunday, I will have task.fm send me a text message telling me to plan out my runs for the week.
In addition, I will have task.fm send me a message the night before each of my runs, telling me to set out my running equipment in a visible place. The running clothes will act as a visual cue, reminding me to run when I get home.
In case I overlook my clothes, and am not cued to run, I can also set up additional text or email reminders.
This system makes sure that I am reminded to run when my ability is high. By planning my runs, starting with less strenuous routes, setting out my clothes, and creating a series of reminders, I will be quite likely to get into a running routine. Without such a system in place, I would be completely relying on chance and will-power – which is a recipe for failure. If you take 30 minutes, and go through the four steps above, I assure you that you will be able to design your own successful running routine.
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