What Is a Habit and How to Break Bad Ones?

This expression that I’ve been hearing a lot lately instantly reminded me of a quote from Aristotle that I came across recently: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Productivity

Jun 19, 2025

7 min

To write this article, I revisited the famous Atomic Habits by James Clear, a book I devoured a few years ago. This time, I read it with fresh eyes, hoping to find explanations for our digital habits.

If we feel we have an imperfect relationship with technology, the priority to change that is to understand the mechanisms behind these compulsive behaviors.

Good or bad, habits lay the foundation for your future self.

How is a habit formed?

Brushing our teeth, putting on socks, having coffee… The brain has “internalized” certain behaviors: we act without thinking. A habit can be defined as: A behavior we’ve repeated so many times that it has become automatic.

In 1898, psychologist Edward Thorndike conducted experiments by locking cats in a cage (😪). The cats had to figure out the mechanism that would free them to reach food placed just outside the cage.

At first, the cats moved randomly but eventually discovered the freeing action by trial and error. Each time they were put back in the cage, their escape attempts became quicker and more efficient.

They went from taking 90 seconds on average in the first tries to just 6.3 seconds in the final ones.

Instead of repeating mistakes, the cats started heading directly to the solution. Although cruel, this research laid the foundation for modern behavioral psychology.

The anchoring of behavior is a process of trial and error. The first time we’re faced with a situation, the brain has to decide how to react.

Attention is high: we test different actions to find a satisfying solution to meet our need or solve our problem. Once found, the brain records it and signals it would be better to repeat that action next time.

Habits are mental shortcuts that save energy.

So we don’t have to think about a situation we’ve already solved before. Here’s the 4-step process by which every habit is formed, according to James Clear:

The cue: this is the alert that signals the opportunity for a reward. It could be a feeling, a sound, or a place.
The craving: this is the motivational force driving us to act to get the reward.
The response: this is what we do to satisfy that craving.
The reward: this is the satisfaction brought by the response.

“The cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward that satisfies the craving and, ultimately, reinforces the original cue.” —James Clear

Together, these four steps create a feedback loop that, when repeated, becomes a habit. It’s like an algorithm embedded in the brain.

If X (cue) happens, I’ll do Y (response), and this will bring me Z (reward).

The Attention Economy and the Great Hack of Our Habits

What better way to capture your time than to burst into the realm of your habits?

Attention economy players exploit a fundamental flaw in our behavioral system. Once rooted in the brain, a behavior becomes a reflex rather than a voluntary choice.

For proof: we unlock our phones 221 times a day on average. If that’s not compulsive behavior…

Digital platforms are designed to facilitate the creation and reinforcement of habits in users.

Why are they so powerful? The main reason lies in this molecule, whose role is undeniably crucial: dopamine secretion fuels habits.

The more an action is dopaminergic, the more the behavior associated with that action will be reinforced. Our smartphones perfectly facilitate this mechanism.

Let’s look at a concrete example with the habit of “checking Instagram”:

Cue: you receive a notification.
Craving: you feel the urge to open the app.
Response: you grab your phone and open the app.
Reward: your Instagram experience is enjoyable (at least for your brain).

Everything is easy.

After this loop, the brain amplifies the value of the trigger that allowed it to obtain the reward. In this example, the Instagram notification becomes increasingly attractive to you.

The motivation to seek out that reward (that dopamine hit) each time will strengthen. Until it starts producing dopamine in anticipation of the reward, rather than just at the moment of the reward itself.

Until we can no longer control ourselves. And that’s when the drama begins. Even with all the willpower in the world, you’ll open Instagram more and more frequently.

If the attention economy manages to infiltrate our habit system so easily, what are some ways to reverse it?

If we feel we have an imperfect relationship with technology, the priority to change that is to understand the mechanisms behind these compulsive behaviors.

Good or bad, habits lay the foundation for your future self.

How is a habit formed?

At first, the cats moved randomly but eventually discovered the freeing action by trial and error. Each time they were put back in the cage, their escape attempts became quicker and more efficient.

They went from taking 90 seconds on average in the first tries to just 6.3 seconds in the final ones.

Instead of repeating mistakes, the cats started heading directly to the solution. Although cruel, this research laid the foundation for modern behavioral psychology.

The anchoring of behavior is a process of trial and error. The first time we’re faced with a situation, the brain has to decide how to react.

Habits are mental shortcuts that save energy.

So we don’t have to think about a situation we’ve already solved before. Here’s the 4-step process by which every habit is formed, according to James Clear:

The cue: this is the alert that signals the opportunity for a reward. It could be a feeling, a sound, or a place.
The craving: this is the motivational force driving us to act to get the reward.
The response: this is what we do to satisfy that craving.
The reward: this is the satisfaction brought by the response.

“The cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward that satisfies the craving and, ultimately, reinforces the original cue.” —James Clear

Together, these four steps create a feedback loop that, when repeated, becomes a habit. It’s like an algorithm embedded in the brain.

If X (cue) happens, I’ll do Y (response), and this will bring me Z (reward).

The Attention Economy and the Great Hack of Our Habits

What better way to capture your time than to burst into the realm of your habits?

Attention economy players exploit a fundamental flaw in our behavioral system. Once rooted in the brain, a behavior becomes a reflex rather than a voluntary choice.

For proof: we unlock our phones 221 times a day on average. If that’s not compulsive behavior…

Digital platforms are designed to facilitate the creation and reinforcement of habits in users.

Why are they so powerful? The main reason lies in this molecule, whose role is undeniably crucial: dopamine secretion fuels habits.

The more an action is dopaminergic, the more the behavior associated with that action will be reinforced. Our smartphones perfectly facilitate this mechanism.

Let’s look at a concrete example with the habit of “checking Instagram”:

Cue: you receive a notification.
Craving: you feel the urge to open the app.
Response: you grab your phone and open the app.
Reward: your Instagram experience is enjoyable (at least for your brain).

Everything is easy.

After this loop, the brain amplifies the value of the trigger that allowed it to obtain the reward. In this example, the Instagram notification becomes increasingly attractive to you.

Until we can no longer control ourselves. And that’s when the drama begins. Even with all the willpower in the world, you’ll open Instagram more and more frequently.

If the attention economy manages to infiltrate our habit system so easily, what are some ways to reverse it?

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For 30min
Everyday
On weekends
During workhours
From 10 pm to 8 am
For 7 days
All the time

Try for FREE

4 Strategies for Breaking Habits

Here are a few ideas from Atomic Habits. James Clear tells us,

“If a behavior falls short on any one of these four steps, it will never become a habit.”

By understanding the stages of habit formation, we can work to dismantle a bad one that has taken root.

Strategy 1: Make the cue invisible

For me, this is the priority strategy: the cue initiates every behavior. As we’ve seen, a behavior that has become a reflex is very hard to stop.

It’s not just a question of willpower: we need to design our environment to avoid the contexts that trigger it. Discipline becomes easier as temptation fades.

It’s easier not to eat chocolate if there’s none at home than if there’s a bar right next to you while you’re working.

Simple. Basic.

Example: If you want to stop scrolling in the morning, buy an alarm clock and leave your phone in another room overnight so you don’t see it as soon as you wake up.

Strategy 2: Make the craving frustrating

This is more of a mindset approach. To make the desire frustrating, change how you perceive it.

Two options:

Associate a habit with a negative feeling.
Highlight the benefits of avoiding that habit.

Example: If you feel stressed and want to go on Instagram to relax, remind yourself it will only add more stress.

Another trick is to make the habit less attractive, even unpleasant. Switching your phone to black-and-white mode could be helpful.

Strategy 3: Make the response difficult

For this, there’s one thing: increase the friction. That is, add more steps between you and the habit you want to stop.

If you want to use Twitter less, you could:

Uninstall the app.
Put it on the fifth page of your phone screen.

This way, you’ll need to go through more “steps” to reach your goal. From this reflection, I uninstalled LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter from my phone.

Jomo also helped me by adding a 10-second wait every time I open an app. By default, you can block apps and only open them when you really need to. To use them, you need to request a break from Jomo. What’s great about the app is that you can add all sorts of friction before diving into the app: entering a random code, writing an intention, scanning a QR code… and even waiting for a delay—which can be a verrrrry long delay.

Strategy 4: Make the reward unsatisfying

If a habit produces an unpleasant outcome, the brain will gradually disassociate the stimulus from the reward. One strategy from James Clear is to build accountability. Commit to someone regarding the habit you’re trying to reduce.

Example: “If I average more than 3 hours of screen time per day in January, I’ll give you 500 euros.”

Ok, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but you get the idea. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The book’s premise is that small actions can lead to big changes over time. Habits are the compound interest of personal development. The small habits we adopt each day add up, accumulate, and ultimately transform us.

Our digital use, in particular – so omnipresent in our days – shapes our future.

Step by step. Quietly. It’s worth considering. I’ll end this article with a quote from the book that struck me:

“If you have good habits, time becomes your ally. If you have bad habits, time becomes your enemy: every day that passes digs the hole a little deeper.” —James Clear