List of Bad Habits: 52 Common Ones and What to Do Instead

What are the most common bad habits?

The most common bad habits are small, automatic actions repeated every day: checking the phone first thing, scrolling in bed, hitting snooze, eating in front of a screen, impulse buying, multitasking and putting off important tasks. This list groups 52 of them into seven areas of life. For each one, you get a swap and a first step you can take today.

A swap works better than a ban. A bad habit is usually triggered by a cue, such as a time, a place, a feeling or the people around you. If you remove the habit and leave a gap, the cue still fires. If you put a better action in the same spot, you have something to do when the urge comes.

Use the list to spot two or three habits that cost you the most, then pick one to work on first. The steps after the list show how. Want habits to add rather than remove? The good habits list has 50 of them.

Phone and screen bad habits

The phone is the most common trigger for other bad habits, because it is always in reach. For the full method, read how to stop doomscrolling and check your real numbers with the screen time calculator.

Sleep bad habits

Most sleep habits are really evening habits. The sleep calculator finds a bedtime for your wake-up time, and how to stop hitting snooze covers mornings.

Food and drink bad habits

Food habits are shaped by what is in reach and what is planned. The weekly meal planner and how to stop ordering takeout help with both.

Money bad habits

Money habits hide in small, frequent purchases. Track one month before you cut anything, so you fix the habit that actually costs the most.

Work and study bad habits

Most work habits come down to starting and focusing. See how to stop procrastinating and use the Pomodoro timer for focused blocks.

Health and body bad habits

These habits are about routine design, not medical advice. If a habit affects your health or you cannot stop, talk to a doctor.

Social and mindset bad habits

Habits of thought are harder to see, so write them down when you catch them.

Why do bad habits stick?

Bad habits stick because they run on autopilot. In their review of habit research, Wood and Rünger (2016) describe habits as responses called up by a recurring context, such as a place, a time of day or a preceding action, with little conscious thought. That is why you can pick up your phone before you have decided to.

A popular way to describe this is the loop of cue, routine and reward, explained in our guide to the habit loop. Most bad habits pay off right away (relief, fun, comfort) while the cost comes later. Keep the model as a useful map, not a law: researchers find the context-response link does most of the work, and once a habit is strong it can keep running even when you no longer enjoy the reward.

Two findings are useful here:

• Changing the setting weakens old habits. When a UK charity moved offices, Walker, Thomas and Verplanken (2015) found that staff's old travel habits weakened with the new context, and for people who switched how they traveled, the new habit grew as the old one faded.
• Watching for the slip works better than distraction. In two diary studies and an experiment, Quinn, Pascoe, Wood and Neal (2010) found that vigilant monitoring, noticing the moment and telling yourself "don't do it", was the strategy linked to controlling strong unwanted habits.

How do you use this list to break a bad habit?

1. Pick one habit. Choose the one that costs you the most time, money, sleep or peace, not the one that is easiest to fix.
2. Log the cue for three days. Each time it happens, note the time, place, feeling and what came just before. The pattern is usually obvious by day three.
3. Choose the swap from the table, or write your own that fits the same moment and gives a similar payoff.
4. Make the old habit harder. Add distance, steps or time: another room, a logged-out app, no snacks in the house.
5. Write an if-then plan. "If I sit on the couch after dinner, then I put my phone on the charger and pick up my book." In a meta-analysis of 94 tests, Gollwitzer and Sheeran (2006) found that if-then plans improved goal attainment compared with goals alone.
6. Track the swap, not the slip. Tick off each day you did the new action in the habit tracker. A slip is data, not failure.

The step-by-step method, with a decision table by habit type, is in how to break a bad habit.

Which bad habit should you break first?

A worked example: scrolling in bed

Maya scrolls for about an hour after getting into bed and wakes up tired. Her log shows the same cue every night: she plugs in her phone next to the bed and checks one message.

• Swap: read a paper book in bed instead.
• Make the old habit harder: the charger moves to the hallway, and she buys a cheap alarm clock.
• If-then plan: "If I brush my teeth, then I plug my phone in the hallway and take my book to bed."
• Track: she ticks off every phone-free night.

In week one she forgets twice and scrolls on the couch instead. She notices, moves the book to the couch too, and keeps going. By week three the hallway charger feels normal. She still slips on Friday nights, and that is fine.

When should you get help with a bad habit?

Some habits need more than a swap. If a habit involves alcohol, smoking, vaping, gambling, bingeing, hair pulling or skin picking, or you have tried many times and cannot stop, talk to a doctor or a licensed therapist. Free help lines and quit programs can make a real difference. This guide is general information, not medical advice.

Where to go next

Pick one habit from the list and swap it for a week. Track the new action in the free habit tracker. If willpower keeps running out, read how to be more disciplined. For a guided month, follow the 30-day habit building plan or build your own plan around your swap. More guides are in the habit building topic.