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Billions of people deal with a nail-biting
habit at some point in their lives.

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Many will go to great lengths
to try to stop,

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employing strategies like rubbing
chili peppers on their cuticles,

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wearing gloves all day,
dipping their hands in salt,

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and envisioning bacteria crawling
on their fingers.

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And while not all of us are nail-biters,

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most of us do have a habit
we'd like to kick.

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So what's the best way to break one?

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Scientists define habits as behaviors
that are performed regularly,

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and cued subconsciously in response
to certain environments,

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whether it be a location, time of day,
or even an emotional state.

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They can include simple actions
like picking your hair when stressed,

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but also more complex practices ingrained
in daily routines,

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like staying up late
or brewing your coffee in the morning.

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If you do something frequently,
without much deliberation,

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then it’s likely a habit.

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They form because at some point your brain
learns that the behavior is beneficial.

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Let's say after opening a stressful email,
you bite your nails.

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This is rewarding,
as it’s enough to focus your attention,

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curbing your email fueled anxiety.

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Within your brain, positive experiences
can trigger the release of dopamine,

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a neurotransmitter that mediates
feelings of pleasure.

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Dopamine is also a driver
of neuroplasticity,

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meaning it can change
how your neurons wire and fire.

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Your brain builds connections
that link the reward with the behavior,

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driving you to repeat it.

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It also starts associating the behavior
with other cues, like your environment.

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Eventually, all it takes is the context
of sitting at your desk

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to subconsciously trigger
a nail-biting habit—

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no stressful email
or sense of relief required.

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Once established,
these cue-behavior-reward loops work fast,

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outpacing the decision-making process.

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You may find yourself
engaging in a habit

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before you have the chance
to notice and stop.

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But this can be a good thing
because not all habits are bad.

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They’re stored memories
of what’s worked in the past,

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which allow you to take swift
action in the present.

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One study estimated that on average,

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people spend more than 40% of their days
performing regularly repeated behaviors

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while their minds are occupied
with other thoughts.

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A seemingly automated morning routine,
for example,

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saves you both time
and precious mental energy.

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Still, many people have habits
that no longer serve them.

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Yet research shows that intentions alone
often fail

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to lead to long-term behavior change.

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This isn’t to say you can’t break a habit.

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Rather, by understanding
the basis of habits,

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you can create better plans
for changing them.

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For example, we know habits are often
cued by environments and routines.

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Lying in bed may cause you to endlessly
scroll through your phone,

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or watching TV on the couch may lead
you to grab a sugary snack.

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One of the most effective ways
to manage behavior

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is to identify these locations
or times of day.

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Then try to modify them
by changing your routine

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or creating obstacles that make
it more difficult to perform the habit

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in that space.

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Moving, switching jobs,
or even starting a new schedule,

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are particularly great times
to break a habit or build a new one.

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One 2005 study tracked university
students’ exercising,

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reading, and TV watching habits
before and after they transferred schools.

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When students were no longer around
old environments and routines,

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their habits, even the strong ones,
significantly changed.

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For behaviors like nail-biting 
or hair-pulling,

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a practice called habit reversal training
can be helpful.

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Developed by psychologists in the 1970s,

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the aim is to change a habit
by replacing it with another one

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that’s less detrimental.

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The training requires you to analyze
and understand your habit cues,

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so you can effectively intervene
at the right times.

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For example, if you tend to bite
your nails at work,

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preemptively keep a fidget toy
at your desk.

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Then, if a stressful email comes in,

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use the toy when you feel
the urge to bite your nails.

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Breaking a habit takes time,

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so remember to give yourself grace
and have patience through the process.

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And while many focus on their bad habits,

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it’s also worth celebrating the good ones

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that help us move swiftly and successfully
through our daily routines.