We know we should get more sleep, exercise regularly, eat better, spend less and put our phones down. Yet knowing what’s good for us doesn’t necessarily mean we do it.

From late-night scrolling and impulse shopping to procrastination and comfort eating, our everyday behaviour is full of contradictions. We make plans for tomorrow, only to abandon them when something more appealing comes along today.

The explanation isn’t simply a lack of discipline. Our brains are wired to value immediate rewards, while modern life offers an almost endless supply of them. The challenge is that what feels good in the moment isn’t always what makes us feel good in the long run.

Patterns — The pull of immediate gratification

Behavioural scientists describe our tendency to favour smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed ones as temporal discounting. A reward available now often feels more valuable than a potentially greater benefit in the future.

It’s why watching another episode can feel more appealing than getting enough sleep, or ordering takeaway wins over cooking something healthier.

These small decisions accumulate into significant patterns.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics‘ 2024 Time Use Survey, 62% of Australians aged 15 and over watched television or streaming content on their diary day, spending an average of 2 hours and 55 minutes doing so. One quarter spent time checking emails, social media or browsing online, averaging 1 hour and 23 minutes.

These activities aren’t inherently bad. The problem arises when enjoyment turns into automatic behaviour, crowding out things we value more.

The consequences can be particularly serious with activities such as gambling. The Australian Institute of Family Studies found that 65% of Australian adults gambled in the previous year, while 15% experienced gambling-related harm.

The attraction of immediate rewards is powerful, even when the longer-term costs are understood.

Tensions — What we want now versus what we want later

One of the great contradictions of human behaviour is that we can genuinely want two opposing things.

We want financial security but enjoy spending. We want to be healthy but crave indulgence. We want meaningful relationships but find ourselves distracted by our phones.

These aren’t necessarily competing values. They’re competing timeframes.

The immediate reward is tangible and certain. The long-term benefit is often abstract, delayed and requires effort.

Stress and time pressure can make this tension harder to manage. The ABS found that one-third of Australians always or often feel rushed or pressed for time. When we’re exhausted or overwhelmed, the easiest or most comforting option can become particularly attractive.

There’s also a wider commercial tension. Many products and services compete for our attention by making pleasurable experiences increasingly convenient.

Streaming platforms automatically play the next episode. Shopping apps remember our payment details. Social media feeds offer a continuous stream of new content.

Convenience removes the small moments of effort that might otherwise interrupt our behaviour.

And there’s a danger in assuming that every unhealthy choice represents a personal failure. Our habits are shaped by the environments, technologies and social expectations surrounding us, not just individual willpower.

As psychologist Wendy Wood’s research on habitual consumers demonstrates, repeated behaviours can become automatic responses to familiar situations, continuing even when they no longer align with our conscious goals.

Shifts — From resisting temptation to redesigning rewards

The traditional approach to bad habits has focused on discipline: resist temptation, set goals and try harder.

But emerging thinking suggests that making desirable behaviours enjoyable may be more effective than relying solely on self-control.

A 2024 review published in Current Opinion in Psychology proposes that pleasure itself can help people start and maintain behaviours that support their long-term goals. Rather than removing enjoyment, the opportunity is to build it into healthier choices.

Exercise becomes easier to sustain when it’s social or enjoyable. Saving becomes more motivating when progress is visible. Learning becomes more engaging when achievement is recognised along the way.

For businesses and governments, this represents an important shift in thinking.

Simply telling people what they should do is rarely enough. Successful behaviour change increasingly depends on understanding what people gain from their existing habits, and finding ways to deliver those rewards through better alternatives.

It also raises questions about responsibility. When businesses benefit from encouraging repeated consumption, where is the line between creating enjoyable experiences and encouraging harmful behaviour?

Perhaps the most useful insight is that bad habits often serve a purpose. They provide comfort, distraction, excitement, escape or a sense of control.

If we want to understand why people keep doing things they know aren’t good for them, we need to understand what those behaviours are giving them.

Because changing a habit isn’t just about removing something bad. It’s about understanding what makes it worth repeating.

Square Holes is a cultural insight studio.

We design mixed method explorations of people and culture beyond the category,  uncovering the patterns, tensions and shifts shaping behaviour to inform strategy, inspire innovation and enable confident decisions. Our studio model brings together the right mix of thinkers, researchers and specialists for each exploration. If you’re navigating change, entering a new market, or seeking deeper understanding of people and culture, let’s start a conversation >