Apply a nudge to your habits
You just got your monthly electricity bill, and there's something different about it. There's a new visual showing how much power you consume, in comparison to your neighbours. Whoa! - looks like you drink up more electricity than most others! Is it the AC? Are we using the water heater for too long? Let's begin by turning off switches that are needlessly on.
You've just been nudged. 'Nudges' are small but deliberate changes to the way information is presented to us; how our choices are arranged; how our environment is designed. The goal? To gently push us in making a 'good' choice. What is 'good' and 'for whom' are controversial questions. Despite that, policy makers are using nudges to improve organ donation rates, reduce electricity wastage, and increase completion rates of MOOCs.
Can nudges be used at an individual level? Yes - you can use it in many ways. For instance, shaping the way you create new habits and routines.
A popular framework for nudges is EAST
This expands to Easy, Attractive, Social, and Timely. Let's say you want to improve your daily writing output. Here's how you could apply them:
Easy
Become aware of the obstacles that hold you back. Is it an inability to think of a topic? (Then find a source of writing prompts, or pick a headline from your newspaper). Is it the warm weather? (Then switch to morning or night.) Are you fazed by having to meet a 300-word goal? What if your goal was to write one sentence?
Attractive
What can you gain if you write, or lose if you don't? What if, when you miss your daily writing goal, your friend gets an ice-cream, while you watch them eat it?
Social
Employ positive peer pressure. Start an online call where everyone writes for 15 mins.
Timely
Become aware of your context and when you are most receptive to a nudge. Are you the kind who only writes in time for a deadline? Can you commit to a regular, recurring deadline (say a weekly newsletter to close friends to whom you are committed?)
There are many ways to harness nudges for yourself. However, remind yourself that no tool is complete in itself. Add this to your toolkit and use it sensibly.
Care to join us for a 101 session on nudges? Or would you like something advanced? Let us know via this form - we're planning one soon.