Interesting article on habit formation

Warning: Habits May Be Good for You
By CHARLES DUHIGG
Published: July 13, 2008
Social scientists have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through relentless advertising.

...as much as 45 percent of what we do every day is habitual — that is, performed almost without thinking in the same location or at the same time each day, usually because of subtle cues....

...In another experiment, conducted by researchers studying smokers, those wanting to quit were more than twice as successful if they started kicking the habit while on vacation, when surrounded by unfamiliar people and places.

"Habits are formed when the memory associates specific actions with specific places or moods,” said Dr. Wood, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke. “If you regularly eat chips while sitting on the couch, after a while, seeing the couch will automatically prompt you to reach for the Doritos. These associations are sometimes so strong that you have to replace the couch with a wooden chair for a diet to succeed.”

read the rest here Warning: Habits May Be Good for You