
Bad habits: Your house is holding you back - imartin2k
https://www.thebehavioralscientist.com/blog/your-house-is-holding-you-back-seriously
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jaggederest
There's a corollary to this: Sometimes your house isn't the thing holding you
back. Sometimes, getting the right environment won't work, because the problem
is in your expectations, not in what you're doing.

When you keep thinking "If only I had X / lived in Y, I could Z", you're
really failing to think about (as the author said) the things you can do in
your current situation.

But again, that intervention in your current situation isn't magic, so you
have to start with your expectations. Can I do 10% better here? Possibly,
indeed. Can I change everything at once? Highly unlikely. Is moving to a
different place going to make you a different person? Nope. It might make some
things more possible, but it's just a possibility.

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sdan
Same thing for a student like myself. I get easily distracted by websites such
as HN, Reddit, and YT that I can't focus or do any work.

When I'm at the library, suddenly I feel no urge to waste time on those
websites and am consistently productive (albeit slow).

I feel like your point can also apply to the workplace as well.

~~~
zapzupnz
I oddly felt the opposite as a student. At the library, I couldn't concentrate
because I couldn't relax. At home, I did waste a lot of time — but I was
relaxed, so I could engage in different behaviours. 50 minutes of writing, 10
minutes of game, 40 minutes of writing, 20 minutes of game, 30 minutes of
writing, 30 minutes of game, 20 minutes of writing, 40 minutes of game, 10
minutes of writing… oh, it's done. Well, gaming all the rest of the night!

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RickJWagner
I think there is some good advice here, for young people. But also a caveat.

I moved around a lot when I was younger, and now live several hundred miles
from my hometown. In my new place, I have friends that have never moved-- they
are my age, yet they still have high-school friends, family, and acquaintances
that stretch back decades. This brings a web of trust that's really strong.
Having a "place" in a community is immensely advantageous.

There are pros to moving around, but there are also pros to staying put.

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vages
I think this is a confusion of causation and correlation: When the time comes
and you are so motivated to do something that you're willing to move, your
motivation levels are probably so high that you could have changed without
moving. Or perhaps moving is just like any other tool for behavior change:
sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

I know this flies in the face of everything the author said, but I'm reluctant
when it comes to accepting anecdotal evidence. At least when the suggested
remedy is as expensive as moving.

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johnchristopher
Your reasoning is as much an anecdote but it doesn't even come from actual
personal experience.

There are evidences that moving to a different environment has an impact on
behaviour, see [https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2012/01/02/1444317...](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2012/01/02/144431794/what-vietnam-taught-us-about-breaking-bad-habits)

Granted that article is click-baity and devoid of helpful and actionable
advice. Ít's a blog post to promote a self-help coach dude.

edit: funny, looks like he has an update
[https://www.thebehavioralscientist.com/blog/cheaper-ways-
to-...](https://www.thebehavioralscientist.com/blog/cheaper-ways-to-change-
than-moving)

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nitins
Yeah, I think this has worked for me also. I have have been stuck with my
place/job for sometime now. I should probably look for a change.

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enraged_camel
It seems this could easily apply to, say, your office or your job, as it can
to your house.

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z3t4
If you are not motivated to train, go to the gym anyway and sit in the bubble
pool or something. So that going to the gym becomes a habit. But the trick is
to condition your training so that you always feel fresh and motivated.

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randomacct3847
An extended trip to a new city (at least 8-10 days) does the same thing IMO,
especially a place you’ve never visited before.

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eurticket
Oh duh, to change my life I just need to pack up and move! Why is this a top
post--what have we become here?

I'm all for behavioral tweaking, such as adding new behaviors onto things
you're already doing. E.g after you brush your teeth you do 2 push ups. Those
work a lot of the time and there has been a lot great posts on HN about that.

But, this as any advice is a luxury to even think makes any rational sense.
Context is a benefit from being able to move at will. And while I'm not
condemning view points of any one type of person, but because you're
privileged to be able to move doesn't mean it's worth anything to be providing
for people actually looking to change their lives; and find real 'context' in
the environment they are unable to move out of.

~~~
nostrebored
Moving to a new place is fantastically inexpensive. He didn't say you had to
switch countries, just neighborhoods.

