lifehacker.com Open in urlscan Pro
151.101.2.166  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

 * The A.V. Club
 * Deadspin
 * Gizmodo
 * Jalopnik
 * Jezebel
 * Kotaku
 * Lifehacker
 * The Root
 * The Takeout
 * 
 * The Onion
 * 
 * The Inventory

Do everything better

ShopSubscribe

HomeLatestFood & DrinkTechHealthMoneyHomeParentingWorkRelationshipsTravelLife in
General
Do everything better


 * Home
 * Latest
 * Food & Drink
 * Tech
 * Health
 * Money
 * Home
 * Parenting
 * Work
 * Relationships
 * Travel
 * Life in General

AboutLifehacker AdvisorLifehacker Store
Explore our other sites
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

AdvertisingPrivacyJobsTerms of Use
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 
 * 

© 2022 G/O Media

HomeLatestFood & DrinkTechHealthMoneyHomeParentingWorkRelationshipsTravelLife in
General




Self Improvement


YOU CAN CONTROL YOURSELF BETTER


WE CAN ALL HAVE MORE OF WHAT WE WANT IF WE GAIN CONTROL OVER OUR DAILY
IMPULSES—HERE'S HOW.

By
Sarah Showfety

Today 9:30AM
Alerts



Photo: True Touch Lifestyle (Shutterstock)


Sometimes, we make colossally bad decisions that mess up our lives for a period
of time. We stay too long in the wrong job or a toxic relationship. We hang out
with the wrong people, or make a risky investment that doesn’t pan out. There
are times when our mistakes and failures can be traced back to a specific
decision or event that threw us off course.


Advertisement




And there are times when our personal and professional inertia is due to the
small, almost imperceptible ways we conduct ourselves daily—unconscious
micro-decisions that, taken individually don’t amount to much, but compounded
over time, have a large impact on our lives: Namely, our habits—and the skill
governing them: I’m talking about self-control (or lack thereof).

While we often come to believe a lack of self-control in the form of
inattention, procrastination, or laziness is endemic to who we are, in fact, we
have more agency and power over our impulses than we think. Far from being mere
victims to our habits, according to Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman,
impulse control is a skill you can train.





RELATED STORIES

How to Meet Your Next Romantic Partner in Real Life
You Can Finally Get Your Personal Information Off Google
How to Get Your Resume Past an Automated Applicant Tracking System


BECOMING AWARE OF YOUR “GO” VERSUS “NO-GO” FUNCTIONS

In an interview with The Knowledge Project, Huberman explains the influence a
part of the brain called the basal ganglia has on our daily lives. Responsible
for integrating thought and action, the ganglia, which are regulated by
dopamine, either propel us into action-oriented “go functions” like eating
breakfast and making the bed—or “no-go functions” that inhibit behavior.

Sponsored LinksSponsored Links
Promoted LinksPromoted Links

Forge Of Empires - Free Online Game

Forge Of Empires - Free Online GameWenn du Zeit am Computer totschlagen musst,
ist dieses Städteaufbauspiel ein Muss. Kein Install.


Undo

LifehackerHow ‘Benign Neglect’ Can Actually Improve Your Garden


Undo

Pro Verbraucher

Pro VerbraucherWer diesen Trick kennt, wird im Krankenhaus wie im Hotel
behandelt


Undo

Lifehacker5 ‘Myths’ That Are Actually True


Undo

Verbraucher Helden

Verbraucher HeldenDiesen Fehler macht fast jeder Kassenpatient im Krankenhaus


Undo



G/O Media may get a commission
20% Off
Fire TV Stick 4K

Streamin' USA
Allows you to use a bunch of streaming services in one place, grants access to
live TV thanks to things like YouTube TV, and can be controlled using your
voice.

Buy for $40 at Amazon


While we learn a lot of “no-go” behavior as kids—such as sitting still and not
interrupting others—as we get older, our lives are centered around going, going,
going. Emailing, calling, instant messaging, alternating between the 17 open
windows in our computer dock, and generally multitasking as if our lives
depended on it.

There are fewer opportunities to practice interrupting this “go” function as
adults, Huberman says. “We rarely rehearse our no-go functions...which are
simply about suppressing behavior.” But suppressing our less-than-productive
behaviors is necessary if we want to stick with our plans, complete difficult
tasks in a timely manner, and reach long-term goals.

Advertisement





HOW TO FLEX YOUR “NO-GO” MUSCLE

In his own life, in an effort to reinforce the circuit that controls his
impulses when he’s about to go into reflexive action, Huberman attempts to
create 20 to 30 “no-go moments” throughout his day. “The thing to understand
about neural circuity is that it’s generic,” he says. If you establish a no-go
circuit around not biting your nails, for example, it carries over to other
areas where you’d like to institute greater self-control.

Advertisement




Huberman listed several examples of how to create “no go’s” (which can be
trivial), in your everyday life.

Resist grabbing your phone: How many times a day do you reach for your phone?
(Don’t answer that, I don’t want to feel worse about my addiction.) The next
time you’re bored, stumped, or procrastinating and feel the urge to mindlessly
scroll social media or check the news, resist. At least for a little while.

Advertisement




Enforce regimen (aka, stick to your plan): If you have a plan in mind, for
example, an exercise routine at the gym, or an order in which to run errands,
complete it as designed, rather defaulting to something more spontaneous and
switching it up on the fly.

90-minute work blocks: Work for 90 minutes at a time, resisting the urge to get
up and get coffee, a snack, fold laundry, or anything else other than the task
at hand. Create tunnel vision focus, and unless there is an urgent need to
interrupt your work, keep your butt in the seat.

Advertisement




Controlled snack breaks: Delay getting the snack you want when the impulse or
craving first arrives. (Huberman notes this isn’t a great option for people in
eating-disorder recovery.)

Meditation: Forcing yourself to complete any kind of mindfulness practice when
you’d rather get up is a way to train your no-go muscle.

Advertisement




Huberman cautioned against becoming neurotically attached to these no-go’s, but
rather to use them as practice, like lifting weights for our brain. Since
there’s no one supervising us as adults, it’s up to us to workout the neural
circuits that interrupt unproductive behaviors, like wasting hours of our day
scrolling, or flitting between projects without completing any.

Subscribe to our newsletter!
Get our best hacks, tips and tricks delivered straight to your inbox every day.
Enter your emailSign Me Up
By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

“We need to keep these no-go circuits trained up. Nowadays there’s so much
opportunity and reward for ‘go’ that we don’t train the no-go pathways.” In the
age of smartphones and instant access to information, Huberman adds, “Pretty
soon you’ve got hours of your day gone that were not structured.”

Advertisement







HealthSelf Improvement




Featured Videos
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Pause
Unmute

Current Time 0:27
/
Duration 2:22
Loaded: 63.36%


0:27
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently playing liveLIVE
Remaining Time -1:55
 
Playback Rate

1x
Chapters
 * Chapters

Descriptions
 * descriptions off, selected

Captions
 * captions off, selected

 * Quality
 * 240p
 * 480p
 * 720p
 * 1080p
 * Auto, selected

Audio Track
 * default, selected

Fullscreen

This is a modal window.


5 Films Best Viewed in Complete Ignorance
What's the Difference Between Frame Rate, Bitrate, and Video Resolution?
Wednesday 12:00PM
5 of the Most Intense Nic Cage Performances
Tuesday 2:00PM

You may also like
Jezebel
The ACLU Says It Wrote Amber Heard's Domestic Violence Op-Ed and Timed It to Her
Film Release

Yesterday 3:19PM
Jalopnik
Toyota Supra Gets A Six-Speed Manual, But Only With The Six-Cylinder Engine
(Updated)

Today 4:20PM
Gizmodo
A Fully Aligned Webb Space Telescope Sees a Field of Stars

Today 12:40PM


Recommended from G/O Media
11 burning questions before Ozark’s finale
4/27/2022, 5:00 AM

19 Food Network Stars’ Personal Websites, Ranked
4/27/2022, 4:00 PM

The 7 Deadly Sins of Dog Ownership
4/20/2022, 3:00 PM