Find the Real Cue

You don’t decide to pick up your phone. You just find yourself holding it. Just after what?

Research on habits finds cues in five places: where you are (the sofa, the car), when it is (straight after waking), what you just did (ending a call, putting the kettle on), who’s there (the flatmate who always has the TV on) and how you feel (bored, tired, on edge). The book Atomic Habits popularised a four-part loop of cue, craving, response and reward. This course works from the research on cues and context underneath it.

The catch is that you rarely see your own cues. The response is fast, and by the time you notice your thumb on the app, the moment that started it has gone.