“Acting on habit has additional benefits. It frees our conscious mind to do the tasks it was designed for, like solving problems.”

Why it was said

Wood makes this point while explaining why the brain hands repeated actions over to habit at all. Once a routine is automatic, the executive system no longer has to manage it, and attention becomes available for other things.

What it actually means

Habits are often discussed as things to break, but Wood stresses that most of them are useful. A commute, a morning routine or a way of filing documents that runs on its own costs almost no deliberate effort, and that saving is what lets us think about a difficult conversation or a design problem at the same time. The practical implication is to automate the routine parts of a day on purpose, so that limited attention goes where judgement is needed.

How to use it

1. 1List three routine choices you still make afresh each day, such as what to eat for breakfast or when to check email, and fix each one in advance.
2. 2Keep the setting for a routine stable, the same place and time, so that it can become automatic.
3. 3Spend the attention you free on one problem that genuinely needs thought.