#behaviourdesign

I came to Brazil to visit my parents in February. The trip was supposed to last two weeks, but due to the pandemic I will end up staying for six months.

After one month here, my grandfather moved in. 

He just completed 92 years old, and I think we can say he has at least two crazes for each year of life.

He wakes up every day at 7:30, except Sundays, when he gets up at 8. 

After getting up he walks to the tv, watches the mass, gets his holy water at 8:30. Breakfast is at 9, and at 9:30 que sits under the sun, but only until 10, cause that’s when he leaves to take a shower.

Showering takes a while but he is always ready at 12 for his lunch (which obviously has to be done too. Not 11:59, not 12:01). He is a quick eater and as soon as he is done he goes for his nap. We have to wake him up at 16. Again, not 16:01 or he gets angry. He wakes up already asking what is the snack going to be.

After the 4pm snack he sits to watch the TV until 7, when it’s time for dinner, and as soon this is done, more tv (obviously the same show every day) until 9, when it’s time to go to bed. Next day, repeat. 

Oh, believe me, I spared you from quite a lot of details.

You ask me how does he know the time so precisely? He walks around with a clock, and it’s not a wrist one.

He is quite worried about his health and is always aware of what pills to take and when, what he can and cannot eat, but there is one recommendation from the doctor that he has a really hard time following: drinking water. He hates water.

The thing is that the doctor said he has to drink pure water. Juices don’t do the trick, and his solution for it, which was adding jello powder to the water, is officially forbidden. 

So for my nudging experience I decided to try to add a small change to this very strict routine.I know he doesn’t like the taste of water but I also know he loves rules, so I tried to take advantage of that.

I grabbed a 1,5L bottle that we had at home and drew a few lines with hours there. Every two hours he has to be done with a part of it, so by the end of the day the bottle is empty.

The first day it didn’t work very well, since I just left the water bottle there and maybe forgot he is lucid but still 92. He drank only a little bit from it and left it aside.

For the second day, I explained to him that he had to accomplish goals, that the marks were the proper time for them to be accomplished and that by doing it, he would keep being healthy. He loves the idea of keeping his good health as much as he loves time commitments.

Second day: sucess.

Behavioural principle: Implementation Intentions. People are more likely to do something when they specify how, when, and where they will do it.

By the end of the day, the water bottle was completely empty. 

Of course he now calls my name at least 10 more times a day in order to fill up his cup with the water from the bottle, and oh, this will definitely not end with the end of this experiment. 

But well, at least we are keeping him hydrated, and my parents can figure out what to do with it as soon as I’m back in Italy.