One-time solution: Put all the unhealthy snacks/food in a hard to reach shelf in the pantry, and shove them all the way to the back.
Notes: This solution is very effective in reducing the snacking and junk-food eating. It’s based on two laws of behaviour change∗.
Make it Invisible: If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. With the junk food tucked away, you’ll be tempted a lot less, if not completely forget that those foods were even an option.
Make it Difficult: Bending all the way down to reach into the bottom shelf of the pantry (for me, that’s at floor level) is really tedious, and that bit of resistance is surprisingly effective in reducing my desire to get that snack/food.
Bonus point — A similar trick is actually well-known in retail: whatever product you put in the top shelf (waist-height) near the cashier will sell much more than any product you put in the bottom shelf (even if the bottom product is a much better-known brand).
* These laws come from the book Atomic Habits, which I’ve read twice and have grokked fully. As a result, I was able to easily come up with dozens of these one-time solutions for all my daily problems. I consider it a life-changing book and I highly recommend it (and I’d love to chat with anyone about habit design, just PM me).
Problem:
Regularly eating unhealthy snacks/food.
One-time solution:
Put all the unhealthy snacks/food in a hard to reach shelf in the pantry, and shove them all the way to the back.
Notes:
This solution is very effective in reducing the snacking and junk-food eating. It’s based on two laws of behaviour change∗.
Make it Invisible: If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. With the junk food tucked away, you’ll be tempted a lot less, if not completely forget that those foods were even an option.
Make it Difficult: Bending all the way down to reach into the bottom shelf of the pantry (for me, that’s at floor level) is really tedious, and that bit of resistance is surprisingly effective in reducing my desire to get that snack/food.
Bonus point — A similar trick is actually well-known in retail: whatever product you put in the top shelf (waist-height) near the cashier will sell much more than any product you put in the bottom shelf (even if the bottom product is a much better-known brand).
* These laws come from the book Atomic Habits, which I’ve read twice and have grokked fully. As a result, I was able to easily come up with dozens of these one-time solutions for all my daily problems. I consider it a life-changing book and I highly recommend it (and I’d love to chat with anyone about habit design, just PM me).