Making 3 Changes to My Environment for Better Health
- 1. Changing 3 Things About My Environment for Better Health My goal: Change what surrounds me in order to make: (1) good health behavior more likely or (2) bad health behaviors less likely. Here’s what I did, and what I found. Kelly Schmutte 10.16.12
- 2. 1. Floss Art My goal: Encourage flossing twice a day (or more) by changing the dispensing experience into something playful
- 3. BORING!
- 4. FUN!!
- 5. 1. Floss Art What I did: What I learned: • Stick pre-cut lengths of • It’s totally fun to “pluck” pieces of floss off of floss on my bathroom the mirror! mirror with colorful sticky • Investing in the preparation (by coloring the dots that I’d colored in (I dots myself) made me take ownership of this tried masking tape at new habit, and increased my excitement first, but it looked too • Not only did I floss twice a day (after ugly) brushing), but did other “opportunistic” • I made an interesting flossing, as well (ex: I was dashing off to design with the floss class, and realized I had something in my teeth pieces (some anchored that I wanted to get). at both ends, some • My roommate has been away the past dangling) week, but I think she would have been • I even cut some dots to encouraged to join in, too. look like balloons with a • I could see this being a new product! Floss hanging tail! manufacturers could offer color-in sticky shapes and pre-cut floss pieces. Another less in-your-face idea I had was to have a suction- mounted balloon-shaped dispenser where the floss tail hung down like the balloon string.
- 6. 1. Floss Art B = MAT What’s going on in the Fogg Behavior Model? • Increase A: Make it easier (don’t have to reach in the cabinet) * • Increase M: Flossing is a fun, different experience. There is also the added motivation of wanting to remove floss from the mirror * to have a less obstructed view. • Trigger! It’s hard to look in the mirror without being reminded of flossing!
- 7. 2. Victory Chain My goal: Do a series of abs exercises every day for 16 days, increasing the difficulty slightly each day, working towards a publicly viewable goal
- 10. 2. Victory Chain What I did: What I learned: • Wrote out 16 days worth • It’s satisfying to rip off a piece of paper and see of abs exercises on visible progress towards your goal. colored strips of paper (4 • I’ve stuck with it so far! (it’s working) different exercises, 4 • It’s not always convenient to do the ab increasing levels of exercise when you come in the door… you each) might be short on time or not in the right • Made a paper chain clothes. out of the strips and • Public accountability is a definite mounted it on my front motivator, though. door • No one commented on my paper chain as I’d • I put a motivational hoped, but I think in an undergrad dorm, you victory message at the would certainly get much more involvement top from peers (I live in grad housing) • The idea is you tear off one strip and do that exercise each day until you reach “Victory!” • I left a place for random passerby to leave feedback
- 11. 2. Victory Chain B = MAT What’s going on in the Fogg Behavior Model? • Trigger! Every time I walk in the front door, I’m reminded * to do an ab exercise. I take a physical object with me inside (the slip of paper) that reminds me to do it. • Increase M: I am working toward a visible goal, and * each day counts. I feel like I’m making progress. Also, public accountability motivates me.
- 12. 3. Snacking Substitution My goal: Substitute my urge to snack (when I’m not truly hungry) with a healthier type of break: taking a walk
- 14. 3. Snacking Substitution What I did: What I learned: • Put my running shoes • Totally didn’t work. (and socks) in front of • I realized I didn’t really want to stop snacking my closed pantry door in some cases. I knew it wasn’t great for so that I’d have to move me, but I felt overall good about my eating them before getting a habits, and like I could afford to indulge. snack • It’s too easy to move the shoes and open the pantry door… To really make the trigger effective, I would have needed to throw out the snack foods completely. • I would also forget to put my running shoes back in front of the pantry after working out, since that was a new habit I needed to learn.
- 15. 3. Snacking Substitution B = MAT What’s going on in the Fogg Behavior Model? • Trigger! Every time I open the pantry door, I’m reminded that I should try walking instead. • No real increase in ability or motivation. I still wanted to snack (and had the ability to), and wasn’t motivated * to go for a walk. Therefore, the trigger didn’t (no change) work.