Tiny Habits

Fogg explains how to make my life easier after a stroke (1).  He says Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt (MAP).  Motivation is unreliable because it comes in waves that vary from day to day, morning to evening, and even minute to minute.  Motivation also fails because it is usually attached to outcomes like saving $500.  An outcome is not a behavior I promise to do.  Finally, motivation can be highjacked by the "go big or go home" philosophy.   

A is for ability which is how much skill the task requires.  Stroke survivors and caregivers can find ways to make a task easier by reading blogs and books written by stroke survivors (see About Me page and my Blog List on the right side bar).  Although I am an OT sometimes I need help solving a problem.  However, an OT or PT evaluation never identifies all my concerns.  I start every new round of therapy by walking in the door with a list of problems I want them to solve.

P is for prompt.  Prompts like to-do lists and calendar alerts on my iphone are SO easy to ignore.  Fogg and I believe in the power of established routines to trigger a new behavior.  The tricky part of using an established behavior to prompt a new behavior is finding what Fogg calls the trailing edge of an old behavior.  For example, I kept forgetting to put drops in my eye after eating breakfast.
I did not succeed until I discovered the last thing I do after breakfast is rinse my cereal bowl.
Now I rinse the bowl and think about using eyedrops to rinse my eye after my recent cataract surgery.  "After breakfast" was too vague.   homeafterastroke.blogspot.com

1.  Fogg BJ.  Tiny Habits.  New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2020.