Starting Small with Environmental Design

Hey friends 👋

I moved out of Philly this past week. As I'm transitioning into the Lehigh Valley, I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact our living spaces have on our well-being.

Environment is one of the biggest factors in outcomes, especially when it comes to habits and sustainable change.

So today’s newsletter will focus on just that - learning about & optimizing environmental design within our homes.

Let’s jump in.

Environment Beats Motivation Every Day of the Week

I don’t know about you, but finding motivation in the winter sometimes feels impossible.

That’s why I’m doubling down on environmental design— the process of designing your space to encourage behaviors you want & discourage the ones you don't.

I’ve mentioned James Clear before and I’ll certainly mention him again because he's the GOAT when it comes to habits.

In his book, “Atomic Habits,” he writes, “the actions we take each day are shaped not by purposeful drive and choice, but by the most obvious option.”

That’s why we often find ourselves making easy but suboptimal decisions— like picking up takeout from that place we pass on our way home, even though the food isn’t that good.

Convenience is the Most Powerful Driver of Choice.

James Clear dives deeper into this idea in this article that I'd recommend checking out: “How to Improve Your Health and Productivity Without Thinking”.

In it, he shares a study that illustrates how powerfully environment affects behavior.

Researchers collected data from 11 countries in Europe— specifically, what percentage of people had elected to be organ donors.

Demographically, the populations were quite similar.

The disparity of results though - shocking. Just check out the graph below.

Several countries such as France & Belgium had a nearly 100% donation rate, while other countries such as Germany & the UK hovered under 20%.

The primary difference? The selection form. Whether it was opt-in or opt-out. 

When the participants had to opt-in to donate, they rarely did. But when donating was the default option, an opt-out model, nearly everyone went along with the default and ended up donating.

The researchers' conclusion to this study provides a fascinating point about environmental design & choice architecture: “In most cases, the majority of people choose the default option to which they were assigned.”

Considering this, it’s imperative that we’re conscious about what choices are made easy in our lives, and that we examine the default options we create for ourselves.

Stay tuned til the end for questions to help in this process, as well as some of my favorite practices for healthy environmental design.

But for now, here's the simple recipe:

If you want to create a habit, make the cue for that action an obvious part of your environment. If you want to break a habit, remove the cue from your space. 

The Principle of Least Effort

In a similar way to environmental design, starting small is a principle that makes habit change more effective.

For example, I’m currently developing a habit of writing (first thing) every morning. Even if it’s just one sentence, I’m writing.

Because one sentence is a small, achievable goal, it's relatively easy to build the habit through consistency. But if my goal was to write ten pages every morning, it would be more challenging and over time, would discourage me from continuing.

By starting small, habits become easier to maintain and can grow over time.

There’s a beautiful story of a man who wanted to lose 100 pounds.

For the first two weeks, all he did was put on his shoes & drive to the gym. He didn’t exercise when he got there, he just built the routine of getting to the gym.

Over time, he began exercising more & more, slowly but surely. Because he had a strong habit foundation, getting to the gym was no longer difficult. It became a part of life.

Now, years later, he’s lost over 100 pounds. Even though he started with zero exercises, the habit compounded and he achieved his goal & more.

Have you ever noticed how we’re naturally drawn to what we’re good at or what’s going well?

That’s because of the Principle of Least Effort - an idea put forth by Harvard linguist George Kingsley Zipf, which states that people will naturally choose the path of least resistance.

This principle (& the work of James Clear) indicates that the key to sustainable habit change is reducing obstacles & making habits easy to achieve.

Here's where environmental design comes back into play.

If you set up your living space to make the good choices easy (and the bad ones hard), you'll help yourself make better decisions that save time, energy & money in the process.

Here are a few examples that I’ve found most effective in my life.

Strategies & Practices for Healthy Environmental Design

📵 Putting my phone in a drawer while I’m working and/or before sleep.

✍️ Laying my journal on top of my laptop to ensure I write first thing when I wake.

🍿 Hiding snacks on the highest shelf in my kitchen to avoid overconsumption.

👟 Leaving sneakers at the front door to encourage mid-day or post-meal walks.

💊 Placing vitamins next to my desk to make it easier to remember to take them.

👕 Color-coding my closet to minimize decision fatigue. This frees up mental space for important things like creativity, productivity & connection.

🥬 Placing fresh vegetables front & center within my kitchen.

A Product That's Changed the Game for Me Health-Wise

If I had to choose one product I bought in the past five years that's made the biggest difference in my habits, health & well-being, it’s the Gardyn, by far.

By placing this indoor, AI-driven, hydroponic garden in my kitchen, it could not be more obvious & easy to make smart nutrition choices.

With Gardyn, you can grow a wide variety of herbs & veggies all year, without the hassle of traditional gardening.

The plants are fresher, tastier, and more nutrient dense than anything you can find in a grocery store - plus no pesticides or food waste 🙃

I started working there in June because I believe in the company's technology and  mission of reimagining the way food is produced & consumed in the world.

Whenever I walk into my kitchen to begin cooking, fresh veggies are starting right back at me - basically asking to be consumed 👀

I’m immensely grateful for this constant reminder to eat healthy, as well as the technology that makes it possible in a sustainable and financially intelligent way.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the link below or this recent review from digitaltrends. My code AJW saves you $100 and I'm always happy to answer any questions or talk more about it.

A Few Questions I Find Helpful in Examining Habits

• How is my current environment helping or hurting my health & happiness?

  • What decisions is my environment promoting?

  • What actions might my environment be restricting?

• How might we design a living space where it’s easy to do what’s right?

• What would it look like to create a space that encourages the habits I desire?

• What's the smallest, positive change I can make to my living space this week?

Podcasts of the Week

Thank You for Reading

Feel free to share any tips or tricks you've found when it comes to healthy environments.

I'll see you next week.

Your friend & supporter,

Aidan