Part-Time Genius What’s the Best Way to Break a Bad Habit?
Feb 24, 2026
Katy Milkman, Wharton professor and behavior change researcher, explains why habits stick and how to shift them. She explores the fresh-start effect, temptation bundling, adding friction to bad routines, and smart commitment devices. Short, practical takes on making change easier and more sustainable.
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Bucket Of Water Wakeup Story
- Samuel Smiles told the story of George LeClaire who paid his servant to wake him at 6am to break a habit of sleeping late.
- After a basin of water finally woke him, George kept a disciplined writing schedule for 40 years, showing a dramatic one-off intervention can stick.
Habits Are Defined By Brain Networks
- Habits live in the basal ganglia: repeated actions shift control from goal-directed circuits to automatic habit circuits.
- The same action (eating candy) can be goal-driven or habitual depending on which neural network is active.
Stale Popcorn Habit Experiment
- Wendy Wood and David Neal left popcorn out for a week then gave audiences stale or fresh bags at a movie night to test habit-driven eating.
- Regular popcorn eaters still consumed over 60% of stale bags, proving context-triggered habits override taste.
