{"id":27103,"date":"2021-02-23T09:09:05","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T13:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=27103"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:15:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:15:04","slug":"temptation-bundling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptation Bundling: Trick Yourself Into Good Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is temptation bundling? How can it help you incorporate new habits into your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Temptation bundling is the practice of pairing two activities\u2014something you enjoy doing and something you&#8217;d rather put off. The idea is that bundling an unpleasant task with an activity that you like doing will reduce the resistance towards it over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about temptation bundling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/personal-life\/health\/mental\/understanding-habits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shortform\u2019s guide to habits<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-temptation-bundling\"><strong>What Is Temptation Bundling<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The more attractive and stimulating an experience, the more you will crave it. Unfortunately, many healthy new habits (like exercising or eating more vegetables) don\u2019t trigger strong cravings. The solution to this is to <strong>bundle the new habit with something you already want<\/strong>. This is called <strong>temptation bundling<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Temptation bundling creates a supernormal stimuli\u2014a heightened version of reality that elicits stronger-than-normal responses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For example, an engineer loved binge-watching Netflix but also knew he should get more exercise. He used his knowledge to manipulate the functions of a stationary bike and the Netflix app. In order to watch Netflix, he had to ride the bike and keep a certain pace. If the pace decreased, the streaming stopped.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By creating a connection between his craving to watch Netflix with his desire to exercise more, he made the act of exercising more attractive.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Temptation bundling can also be used with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/habit-stacking\/\">habit stacking<\/a>. The formula is as follows: \u201cAfter X [current habit], I will do Y [new habit]. After I do Y, I get to do Z [craved habit].\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You\u2019ve already stacked your need to exercise more on top of your current habit of eating lunch. But you also want to play video games. Your formula changes from: \u201cAfter I finish lunch, I will walk around the block for 20 minutes\u201d to \u201cAfter I finish lunch, I will walk around the block for 20 minutes. After I walk around the block for 20 minutes, I get to play video games for 30 minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If playing video games becomes the reward for walking, you\u2019ve created a supernormal stimulus by making exercise more rewarding. You\u2019ll begin to crave the walk so you can claim your reward afterward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If the habit you stacked previously is something you\u2019re passionate about, you can bundle another needed habit in between the two previous habits.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You were successful in starting the habit of drawing more because you stacked it on top of washing dishes, but you also have bills to pay. Your formula changes from, \u201cAfter I wash the dishes, I will draw for an hour\u201d to \u201cAfter I wash the dishes, I will pay the bills. After I pay the bills, I get to draw for an hour.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is temptation bundling? How can it help you incorporate new habits into your life? Temptation bundling is the practice of pairing two activities\u2014something you enjoy doing and something you&#8217;d rather put off. The idea is that bundling an unpleasant task with an activity that you like doing will reduce the resistance towards it over time. Keep reading to learn about temptation bundling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[212],"class_list":["post-27103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-atomic-habits","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Temptation Bundling: Trick Yourself Into Good Habits - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Temptation bundling is the practice of pairing two activities\u2014something you enjoy doing and something you&#039;d rather put off. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Temptation Bundling: Trick Yourself Into Good Habits\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Temptation bundling is the practice of pairing two activities\u2014something you enjoy doing and something you&#039;d rather put off. Learn more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-23T13:09:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-03T14:15:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/leanstartup-entrepreneur.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"897\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Temptation Bundling: Trick Yourself Into Good Habits\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-23T13:09:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T14:15:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\"},\"wordCount\":480,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/leanstartup-entrepreneur.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Atomic Habits\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/\",\"name\":\"Temptation Bundling: Trick Yourself Into Good Habits - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/temptation-bundling\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/leanstartup-entrepreneur.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-23T13:09:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-03T14:15:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"Temptation bundling is the practice of pairing two activities\u2014something you enjoy doing and something you'd rather put off. 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