{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/build-a-preparatory-habit-around-the-behavior-that-keeps-failing-to-start",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0903",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Build a preparatory habit around the behavior that keeps failing to start",
  "summary": "Sometimes the missing habit is the one that puts the shoes by the door.",
  "kind": "template",
  "body": "The review identifies preparatory habits as contributors to physical-activity habit formation. Automate the small setup step that makes the target behavior immediately available: lay out equipment, fill the bottle, open the document or prepare ingredients. The preparation should reduce friction without becoming a second elaborate ritual.",
  "limits": [
    "Preparatory routines can become procrastination if they expand beyond what the target behavior actually needs."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-habit-daily-operating-system"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-8A8121875B5A038C"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "The habit-formation review identifies preparatory habits as a mediator or contributor to stronger physical-activity habits.",
      "source_id": "RS-8A8121875B5A038C",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Preparatory routines can become procrastination if they expand beyond what the target behavior actually needs.",
      "locator": "See source record"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "The target behavior is simple once started, but setup repeatedly blocks initiation."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Preparatory routines can become procrastination if they expand beyond what the target behavior actually needs."
  ],
  "example": "Put exercise clothes beside the desk at the end of the workday so the walk or workout does not begin with a search.",
  "check": "The target behavior starts more often because setup friction is removed in advance.",
  "template": "Before [target behavior], automatically prepare [one setup action] at [cue].",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-8A8121875B5A038C",
      "title": "Time to Form a Habit: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Health Behaviour Habit Formation and Its Determinants",
      "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11641623/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-886B56010DBE46F3",
      "title": "Build habits for real time scales, stable cues and automatic starts",
      "url": "/collections/build-habits-for-real-time-scales-stable-cues-and-automatic-starts"
    }
  ]
}