---
title: Habit Automation Offloads Up To 90% Of Mental Effort
date: 2025-11-12T03:47:27.031888
author: Charlie M.
category: SIGNAL
---
So I was scrolling through Instagram again this morning, you know, just mindlessly tapping through stories like some kind of digital zombie, and I realized... I kinda do this every day without thinking. It's like my fingers have a mind of their own, just flicking away. And it got me wondering about habits and all this stuff I read... or kinda skimmed about last week. Something about how habits can offload a ton of mental effort, maybe like, up to 90%? I think it was an MIT study, Ann Graybiel's lab or something, but don’t quote me on that. Basal ganglia was involved? Sounds like a Star Wars character, right?
Anyway, the idea is once something becomes a habit, your brain saves energy. Automaticity, I think they call it, and it's like this neural efficiency magic. It makes sense, I guess? I mean, when I work out, I don’t really think about the movements anymore. Pushup? Boom, done. My body just kinda knows what to do. But also, there are days when I skip workouts. So am I just a half-habit person?
I keep thinking about those mornings when deleting my apps seems like the only way to get any work done. Like, is it my brain rebelling against the habitual scrolling? Or am I just bad at habits? No clue. But maybe... maybe habits are like chunking behavior, breaking things into bits? There's probably some brain science in there. Something about neural pathways getting all efficient with repetition. Or maybe I'm just lazy?
I do remember reading somewhere that Graybiel's work connects to how making something a habit frees up brain space. But my brain space feels crowded most of the time. And I’m not sure if scrolling through memes counts as a “system” or “habit” or whatever. Am I making things easier or just avoiding effort? Do habits actually help or just hide the mess I could be dealing with? It’s like, is my phone the enemy or is my lack of discipline?
There's this thing, too, about how automatic actions can reduce cognitive load... whatever that means exactly. Maybe it's true, maybe it's just another thing I pretend to understand. Like adulting, right? We go through the motions, hoping it all makes sense eventually.
Honestly, I'm not sure I'll ever figure out how to make good habits stick or if it’s all a brain trick. Maybe I should just stop overthinking it and embrace the chaos. Who knows. All I know is tomorrow, I'm probably gonna scroll through Instagram again. And that’s okay. Or not? Whatever.