Conscious choice accounts for only a fraction of what you do each day. The vast majority of your actions are dictated by habit, according to new research published in Psychology & Health.
The study found that around two-thirds of our daily behaviours are set in motion automatically, triggered by familiar environments, timings or routines. In other words, we live much of life on autopilot.
“Psychologists define habits as cue–behaviour associations,” Prof Benjamin Gardner, co-author of the study, told BBC Science Focus. "For example, one simple habit that I have is that when I get into work, it automatically triggers me to make a cup of tea... If we didn't have these habits and we had to think about everything we were doing, life would be almost paralysing."
The team tracked 105 people in the UK and Australia, pinging messages to their phones at six random times a day for a week and asking what they were doing – and whether it was intentional and/or habitual.
Sifting through the data, they found that: 65 per cent of actions were initiated out of habit, 88 per cent were carried out at least partly on autopilot, and 76 per cent aligned with conscious goals.
That last figure is crucial. Far from undermining our intentions, many habits actually help us achieve them.
Gardner said, “There’s nothing inherently good or bad about habit itself. If it helps you meet your goals, it’s a good habit. If it works against them, it’s a bad habit.”
The most commonly reported activities across the study were employment, education or volunteer duties, domestic or childcare activities, and screen time. Exercise stood out as an exception, as while people often decided to do it automatically, carrying it out still required conscious effort.
The findings suggest that habits can be harnessed for public health and personal wellbeing. For example, anchoring a new behaviour to a reliable cue – like exercising after work – can help it stick. To break a habit such as smoking, avoiding old triggers or substituting a new routine (chewing gum after a meal instead of lighting up) may be more effective than willpower alone.
When attempting to change a habit, Gardner recommended spending a few days recording what environment you're in when the habit is initiated – where you are, what time it is and even who you're with. "If you do that for a week, you should be able to see what the triggers are, and that empowers you to change,” he said.
Ultimately, habits are not the enemy of free will. “Habits are really valuable – they free up mental resources for other things,” Gardner said. "Habit gets a bad reputation… but actually we need to recognise that it’s a good thing to be able to automate much of what we want to do."
Prof Grace Vincent, a sleep scientist at Central Queensland University and co-author of the study, agreed: “If we set out to create a positive habit, whether that’s around better sleep hygiene, or nutrition, or general wellbeing improvements, we can rely on an internal 'autopilot' to take over and help us maintain those habits.”
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