We’re not even halfway through the year and you’re already starting to feel guilty. You’re having a hard time finding the willpower to train for this year’s Christmas marathon. You know that you should, but every night after work, you end up laying on the couch to watch another episode of The Pitt rather than going out to train (I’m rewatching Smallvillemyself, so, we’re in this together).
At this point, you’re probably wondering why you can’t seem to muster enough “willpower” and the shame is setting in. You likely believe that if only you tried harder and had more self-discipline, you’d probably stop doomscrolling on Instagram, start exercising or finish that project you’ve been postponing for weeks.
But I want you to stop right there. Before you start using labels such as “unmotivated” or “lazy,” I want you to take a look at the room you’re sitting in.
Why the Sofa Wins
The reason the sofa wins is not related to a lack of “willpower”, it is a matter of behavioral cost.
Every behavior (action) has a “price tag.” In any environment, we naturally gravitate toward the cheapest available option that satisfies our needs (much like a quick stop at Zara’s discount section). Right now, the sofa looks warm, cozy and welcoming (especially after a long day’s work), the remote is easily accessible, HBO’s algorithm already has the next episode queued up and your dog is likely giving you those puppy-dog eyes that are begging for a cuddle.
On the contrary, your stinky trainers are out of sight, it’s currently raining and you’re probably still sore after last night’s 5km run.
We don’t choose the sofa because we are “lazy,” we choose it because the environment has been optimized for it. The sofa provides comfort and entertainment at a low-cost investment while the marathon is high-cost, with a delayed reinforcement (you won’t feel the satisfaction of completing the marathon until a few months later). In a head-to-head battle, it is hard to beat the temptation.
The Environmental Architect
Now that we understand that our behavior is dictated by our environment, we have two choices:
- Remain the victim and continue watching TV.
- Become an environmental architect that facilitates change.
Being an architect means directing the focus away from yourself. you don’t need more discipline; you need to reduce the cost of the behaviors you desire and increase the cost of those that compete with them. The rule is simple: to change your behavior, you must change your environment.
Stimulus Control: The Silent Advertisements
If “behavioral cost” is the price of an action, stimuli are the advertisements. Your environment is never silent, it is constantly “whispering suggestions”. The sofa prompts you to “sit” and the notifications on your phone to “scroll.” To change your behavior, you must curate these prompts to make the “good” prompts impossible to miss and the “bad” impossible to see. So, what changes can we make to our environment? Here are some ideas:
- To increase the cost of binge watching, you may want to unplug the TV before you go to bed and hide the remote in a cabinet. This will increase the cost — you are going to have to boot-up the TV and wait for it to turn on before you even get started. You are adding hurdles to the sequence.
- Log out of your Instagram account and delete the shortcut from your home screen, the extra seconds increases the cost and reduces the temptation.
- Place your running shoes at the entrance and have your clothes ready to go. This reduces the cost to initiate the sequence.
To make it even simpler, you may even decide to pack a bag with your workout clothes so that you can train before going home, eliminating the sofa as a competitor almost entirely.
The takeaway
So, the next time you find yourself stuck on the sofa, don’t blame your character, look at your environment and ask yourself: what is it optimized for? You are not “lazy,” you are simply responding to your context.
Now, as a behavioral psychologist, and a clinical expert, I must add a disclaimer: behavioral change is a complex process. This is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution. However, I encourage you to look at how your context is influencing your choices and preventing the changes you desire.
So, the next time anyone asks you about why you quit the gym after three months, just tell them: “it’s not me, it’s my sofa”.
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