As a rule, 20 seconds helps you develop healthy habits.

Forming healthy habits and breaking bad ones can be easy and fun if you don't focus on the change. You can make this transition in your life if you follow the 20 second rule. That's the problem!

The 20 Second Rule is a strategy that helps people form good habits and/or break bad ones. This strategy can be applied in many contexts and can help improve physical or mental health or other aspects of life.

What does this rule apply to?

The basic idea is that when you do something, you should make the task as simple as possible so that you are not tempted to lose motivation. If a task seems easy to you in the first 20 seconds, then the chances of doing it again increase significantly.

How can you apply this in your life

If you want to replace watching TV with reading a book, prepare this way: place the remote control in another room after turning off the TV. Then choose the book you want to read and leave it in a visible place, maybe even on the couch where you used to watch TV. The next day you will find it easier to read than to watch TV because you have everything prepared.

Also, if you want to start working out, prepare your evening clothes and equipment so that you are ready to workout. This change can make the difference between waking up to exercise or deciding to sleep more.

How it really works

The 20 second rule helps because your brain prefers to spend less time and energy on tasks that you do regularly. This means that you can form new habits without focusing on the change, and the task will no longer seem difficult. Scientists from the University of Geneva came to this conclusion after studying the neural activity of several people who either chose to engage in physical activity or chose to do nothing.

So now that you've learned this strategy, what habit do you want to change?