Huberman Lab

Podcast Notes

• “A lot of habit formation has to do with being in the right state of mind and being able to control your body and mind.” ­– Dr. Andrew Huberman
• Habits take different lengths of time to adapt depending on the person and the habit – a habit might take one person 18 days and another person 200+ days
• The goal of building habits is to overcome limbic friction (level of energy needed to engage in a habit) and enter it automaticity
• Leverage natural rhythms of brain & body hormones to make it more likely that you will engage or maintain habits
• In the first 0-8 hours after waking, your brain and body are more action and focus oriented – you can more easily overcome things with high limbic friction
• In the 9-15 hours after waking, leverage high serotonin and keep stress low by engaging in habits that don’t require a lot of limbic overrides
• A test of whether you’ve truly formed a habit is if you can perform that habit or behavior at any point in the day without thinking too much about it – e.g., exercise whenever you can fit it in
• The strength of a habit is dictated by how much limbic friction there is and how much context dependence there is
• Breaking a bad habit is more than just rewarding yourself if you don’t do it or punishing yourself if you do it – you want to change the neural circuitry involved
• To break a habit: bring conscious awareness to the fact that you participated in the habit you are trying to break – at that moment, capture the events and engage in positive replacement behavior immediately after

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org



In this episode, I review the science of habit formation and habit elimination and how the process of neuroplasticity (brain rewiring) underlies these processes.

I describe two new systems for habit formation. The first system is grounded in the neuroscience of brain states and our ability to perform (and to avoid) certain tasks at different phases of the 24-hour day. The second system focuses on 21-day habit formation and consolidation.

I also discuss "task bracketing" as an approach to enhancing habit formation and eliminating unwanted habits and the neural circuits that underlie task bracketing in the basal ganglia (a brain region for generating and stopping behaviors). I also review the science of dopamine rewards and how to apply that knowledge to shaping habits.

The science and tools in this episode ought to be helpful for anyone looking to build better habits and eliminate unwanted habits for school, work, fitness, relationships, creative endeavors, and more—indeed for any person or situation where behavioral changes are needed.

 

Thank you to our sponsors:

• Athletic Greens - http://www.athleticgreens.com/huberman 
• InsideTracker - http://www.insidetracker.com/huberman 
• Helix Sleep - http://www.helixsleep.com/huberman 

 

Our Patreon page:

• https://www.patreon.com/andrewhuberman 

 

Supplements from Thorne:

• http://www.thorne.com/u/huberman 

 

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• Newsletter - https://hubermanlab.com/neural-network 

 

Links:

• Excellent review on science of habits - https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417 
• Meta-analysis on habits - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1539449219876877 

 

Timestamps:

• 00:00:00 Introducing Habits; New Programs
• 00:02:30 Athletic Greens, InsideTracker, Helix Sleep
• 00:06:52 Habits versus Reflexes, Learning, Neuroplasticity
• 00:08:51 Goal-Based Habits vs. Identity-Based Habits
• 00:11:40 How Long It (Really) Takes to Form a Habit; Limbic-Friction
• 00:16:07 Linchpin Habits 
• 00:18:55 Mapping Your Habits; Habit Strength, Context-Dependence
• 00:22:55 Automaticity
• 00:24:03 Tool 1: Applying Procedural Memory Visualizations
• 00:27:48 Hebbian Learning, NMDA receptors
• 00:31:00 Tool 2: Task Bracketing; Dorsolateral Striatum
• 00:37:08 States of Mind, Not Scheduling Time Predicts Habit Strength
• 00:38:16 Tool 3: Phase-Based Habit Plan: Phase 1
• 00:46:29 Tool 3: Phase-Based Habit Plan: Phase 2
• 00:55:24 Tool 3: Phase-Based Habit Plan: Phase 3
• 01:01:34 Habit Flexibility
• 01:04:57 Should We Reward Ourselves? How? When? When NOT to.
• 01:10:30 Tool 4: “Dopamine Spotlighting” & Task Bracketing
• 01:18:22 Tool 5: The 21-Day Habit Installation & Testing System
• 01:28:26 Breaking Habits: Long-Term (Synaptic) Depression
• 01:35:49 Notifications Don’t Work
• 01:37:50 Tool 6: Break Bad Habits with Post-Bad-Habit “Positive Cargo”
• 01:44:26 Addictions as Habits: https://hubermanlab.com/dr-anna-lembke-understanding-and-treating-addiction/
• 01:45:28 Conclusion & Synthesis 
• 01:48:27 Zero-Cost Support, Sponsors, Patreon, Supplements, Instagram, Twitter

Please note that The Huberman Lab Podcast is distinct from Dr. Huberman's teaching and research roles at Stanford University School of Medicine. The information provided in this show is not medical advice, nor should it be taken or applied as a replacement for medical advice. The Huberman Lab Podcast, its employees, guests and affiliates assume no liability for the application of the information discussed.

 

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com