Lesson 6 of 11
第六堂課
Prime Your Environment to Make Future Habits Easy
優化你的環境,讓未來的習慣養成更輕鬆
Sometimes readers ask me if it’s better to focus on one habit at a time or to build multiple habits. My answer is nearly always to focus on one habit. Not only is this simpler, but it also addresses an often overlooked aspect of habit formation: when you’re building one habit, you’re often building multiple habits.
有時讀者會問我,在一段時間中專注於建立一個習慣比較好,還是多個習慣並進比較好。對此,我的答案幾乎都是專注於一個習慣。這不只是因為單一習慣的建立比較簡單,也也助於解決在習慣養成時常常被輕忽的角度:當你在建立一個新習慣時,你往往也在建立好幾個新習慣。
Take the habit of eating healthier. There are actually a variety of habits involved in this process. You have to build the habit of going to the grocery store and shopping for new items, the habit of meal planning and deciding what to eat each week, the habit of chopping and prepping food each night, the habit of cleaning up after the meal, and so on. Eating a healthy meal is actually the easiest part. It’s often the preparation that causes you to quit.
舉例來說,你想要吃得健康一點,有各式各樣的習慣涵蓋在這個「吃得健康」的過程裡頭。首先,你必須建立到果菜市場及購買新物品的習慣,其次是計畫且決定當週要實用的餐點的習慣,再者是每晚備菜的習慣,然後是餐後整理環境的習慣⋯⋯等等。吃一頓健康餐實際是整個過程中最容易的一部分,向來都是那些冗長的準備流程讓你卻步。
This is true for many habits – not just eating healthy. One way to increase the odds that your habits will be performed is to walk into an environment that is ready for the habit.
I call this strategy “priming the environment.” That is, creating an environment that favors the habit that you’re trying to build.
這同樣適用於其他習慣——不僅僅是想要吃得健康。有一個方法能提高你實踐習慣的機率,就是去看看已經準備好可以建立這個習慣的環境。
我稱這個策略為「環境優化」,如同字面意義,創造一個符合你想要建立的習慣的喜好的環境。
Environment design, as we discussed in Lesson 4, makes the cues of good habits more obvious. Reducing friction, as discussed in Lesson 5, makes performing habits in the moment easier.
Priming the environment adds one more layer: it’s a way to make your future habits easier.
如同我們在第四堂課提過的,環境設計將好習慣的提示變得明眼可見;第五堂課提到減少阻力,則讓實踐習慣的當下容易一些;而優化環境,是為了更上一層樓:是為了讓你未來培養習慣時更容易一些。
Here are some examples:
這裡有幾個例子:
Whenever you organize a space for its intended purpose, you are priming it to make your future actions easy. Now your environment is ready for immediate use the next time around.
Whether we are approaching behavior change as an individual, a parent, a coach, or a leader, we should ask ourselves the same questions: “How can we design a world where it’s easy to do what’s right? How can we prime our environments so our future habits are easier?”
Ideally, the actions that matter most should also be the actions that are easiest to do.
一旦你為特定目的準備好空間,你就會優化它,將它變得能讓你未來的行為實踐起來更輕鬆的樣子。現在你的環境已經準備好了,隨時都能為下一輪實踐派上用場。
無論我們試圖效仿特定人士、父母、教練或領導者改變自身行為,我們應該捫心自問:「我們該怎麼創造一個可以輕輕鬆鬆地做正確的事的世界?我們可以怎麼優化環境,讓我們未來在塑造習慣更容易一些?」
理想上,這些具有重大影響性的行動,正應該是那些最容易著手的行動。
Week 2 Summary
Week 2 Progress Check-In
That's all for Lesson 6. See you in the next lesson,
James Clear
Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker
第二週總結
第二週進程回顧
這就是第六課的全部了,期待下一堂課再見。
詹姆斯.克利爾
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