On Humans as Habit Machines

On this episode of the UK’s most popular podcast, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee interviewed Danny Perman, an expert in mindfulness and meditation. On the pod, they talked about how changing up your routine can help change your mind, how meditating can actually create more time in your day, and they discuss a simple mindfulness exercise you can do almost anywhere.

On humans as habit machines:

“Human beings are fantastic habit machines…you can automate the way you think.”
Danny Perman

Perman followed that, fifty to eighty percent of our thoughts or behaviors are just habits that are being continually triggered and that—unfortunately— we often automate negative states of mind.

How to release habits/change your daily thoughts:

On the pod, Perman noted that we can release habitual thoughts by changing up our daily routine. For example, changing the place you sit in meetings, taking a different route to work, or trying a different running route can allow us to shift our perspective—and consequently—our thoughts.

How meditating creates more time in your day:

Perman noted that mediating or practicing mindfulness actually liberates more time than it consumes. For example, “you might spend 5 minutes or 10 minutes meditating a day, but actually, your spending far less time being worried or stressed or unhappy or just going through [unproductive] habit routines.”