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Starting a habit, listening to another person, turning experience into better judgment. Explore 67 academic publications in eight fields through questions from everyday work.

What the research found → Connections to your work

Each entry includes the study’s participants, methods and conditions. “Connection to this page” is our editorial interpretation informed by the research.

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Starting actions & habits

8 studies

Research on how cues to begin, specific plans, recurring situations and progress monitoring relate to action.

Meta-analysis (chapter in a research series)2006

Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes

Plans linking a situation to an action improved goal attainment on average. The review also examined processes that turn goals into action, including getting started and responding to obstacles along the way.

Connection to this page

After choosing one of the 116 habits, decide which task and situation will provide an opportunity to try it.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined 94 independent tests of plans that specify 'If this situation occurs, I will take this action,' in addition to setting a goal.
Scope and limitations
Goals, plans and participants varied. The findings do not imply the same effect for every action in every workplace.

Peter M. Gollwitzer; Paschal Sheeran (2006). Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes

Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119

DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1

Longitudinal observational study in everyday settings2010

How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world

Automaticity tended to increase with repetition in a consistent context. The pace of habit formation varied considerably between people, and missing one occasion did not substantially affect the formation process.

Connection to this page

Connect one action to a recurring situation, such as starting work each morning or finishing a consultation, rather than trying to remember many actions at once.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
96 people chose an eating, drinking or physical activity behavior, repeated it in the same context for 12 weeks, and recorded performance and automaticity.
Scope and limitations
The study mainly used self-reports of health behaviors. It does not establish a fixed number of days for workplace habits to form.

Phillippa Lally; Cornelia H. M. van Jaarsveld; Henry W. W. Potts; Jane Wardle (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world

European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009

DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.674

Everyday observational research (two diary studies)2002

Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action

During habitual actions, people were more likely to think about something unrelated to the action itself. This was consistent with the account that recurring contexts can cue behavior without renewed conscious deliberation each time.

Connection to this page

Consider which cues, such as a signal to begin work, can become habitual, while rechecking judgments when people or circumstances change.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Participants recorded everyday actions, thoughts and emotions at hourly intervals. Actions repeated in stable contexts were compared with other actions.
Scope and limitations
Diary observations cannot establish causality. The research does not suggest automating complex judgments at work.

Wendy Wood; Jeffrey M. Quinn; Deborah A. Kashy (2002). Habits in Everyday Life: Thought, Emotion, and Action

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297

DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1281

Experimental research (multiple experiments)2011

Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals

Unfinished goals intruded into thoughts during other tasks, but making specific plans to achieve them reduced this interference.

Connection to this page

Before ending work, leave a clear point for resuming an unfinished task and a record of what to do next.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Made unfinished goals salient and examined whether specific plans changed intrusive thoughts during reading and interference with other tasks.
Scope and limitations
The experiments mainly measured cognitive interference. They did not establish that writing a plan resolves every unfinished task.

E. J. Masicampo; Roy F. Baumeister (2011). Consider It Done! Plan Making Can Eliminate the Cognitive Effects of Unfulfilled Goals

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 667–683

DOI: 10.1037/a0024192

Meta-analysis of randomized experiments2016

Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence

Interventions that increased the frequency of progress monitoring improved goal attainment on average. Effects tended to be larger when progress was recorded or results were reported or made public.

Connection to this page

Briefly record what the other person did and how work progressed after trying a habit, then use that information to choose the next action.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Combined 138 studies involving 19,951 participants randomly assigned to interventions promoting progress monitoring or to control conditions.
Scope and limitations
Participants and interventions varied. The findings do not mean that more recording and reporting will always move work forward.

Benjamin Harkin; Thomas L. Webb; Betty P. I. Chang; Andrew Prestwich; Mark Conner; Ian Kellar; Yael Benn; Paschal Sheeran (2016). Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence

Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 198–229

DOI: 10.1037/bul0000025

Field observations (three archival studies)2014

The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior

Searches and actions aimed at positive change tended to increase after temporal landmarks. A landmark separating the past from the present may provide an opportunity to get started.

Connection to this page

Offer an opportunity to choose one habit suited to current work at the start of a week, while treating support for continued use as a separate question.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Analyzed search histories, gym attendance and records of goal-directed activity around temporal landmarks such as the start of a week, month or year.
Scope and limitations
The research mainly used observational data on initiation. It does not uniformly establish persistence or a causal effect of the landmark alone.

Hengchen Dai; Katherine L. Milkman; Jason Riis (2014). The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior

Management Science, 60(10), 2563–2582

DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901

Randomized field experiment2014

Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling

Combining an enjoyable activity with exercise increased initial gym attendance. The effect weakened over time, with a particularly marked decline after a holiday break.

Connection to this page

Create conditions that make starting easier, rather than relying only on willpower, and check whether the behavior continues after it begins.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Randomly assigned participants to conditions including access to engaging audiobooks only at the gym, and tracked actual gym attendance.
Scope and limitations
The study tested a particular combination of exercise and audiobooks. The same approach may not sustain workplace behaviors.

Katherine L. Milkman; Julia A. Minson; Kevin G. M. Volpp (2014). Holding the Hunger Games Hostage at the Gym: An Evaluation of Temptation Bundling

Management Science, 60(2), 283–299

DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2013.1784

Large randomized field experiment2021

Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science

Interventions differed in effectiveness. Few of those effective during the intervention produced lasting changes afterward. Predictions made in advance did not reliably identify which approaches would work.

Connection to this page

Avoid assuming an effect from a habit's description alone. Try it in current work, and examine both the immediate response and later changes.

Participants, methods, scope and bibliography
Participants and methods
Compared 54 four-week digital interventions among 61,293 members of a US fitness chain, using a common population, period and gym-attendance measure.
Scope and limitations
The study involved one exercise service and short interventions. The same rankings or lasting effects cannot be assumed for workplace habits.

Katherine L. Milkman; Dena Gromet; Hung Ho et al. (2021). Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science

Nature, 600, 478–483

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04128-4

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