Untangle bad habits with a three‑phase masterplan

A small marketing team was drowning in constant Slack checks. Their designer joked she could hear phantom pings even when her laptop was closed. The manager avoided a crackdown and tried a design approach instead. Phase one was about wins elsewhere: the team adopted two tiny habits, “after stand‑up, write two priority bullets” and “after lunch, close email for 15 minutes.” Morale lifted. People felt capable again.

In phase two, they targeted a specific behavior, not the entire checking habit. The moment was “glancing at Slack during deep work blocks.” They removed prompts first. Desktop badges went off. The Slack window no longer auto‑opened. Then they added friction. A short AppleScript shut Slack during focus time and required a password to reopen. One developer placed his phone in a drawer with a sticky note, “are you sure?”—a small speed bump that made him think.

It mostly worked, but a few still peeked at lunch, then slid into afternoon rabbit holes. The manager scaled back the scope. For one week, everyone committed to two 50‑minute windows daily with Slack fully closed. They celebrated each window in chat with a single check mark emoji. People started stacking more windows on their own.

Only then did they swap. For that urge to check, they picked a Golden Behavior using a quick Focus Map: “write one line about what I’m trying to do” beat “stand up and stretch” because it was closer to the work and felt more helpful. That became the replacement move when the itch hit. In two weeks, the phantom pings faded. Deliverables improved and, more telling, no one complained about the change.

The framework matters. Build competence first, then remove prompts and add friction, then scale back, then replace if necessary. By addressing the behavior at the right moment with the right lever, the team changed without a backlash or blame.

Start by stacking a couple of tiny wins in easy areas so you feel effective again. Then target one specific moment of the habit, remove or avoid its prompts, and if needed add friction so it takes more time or effort. If it’s still sticky, shrink the scope and count small gaps as real wins. Only then, if you must, swap in a well‑chosen replacement that’s easier and more appealing right then. Keep it simple and track your best window tomorrow afternoon.