I’d like to point out you’re breathing consciously now. Noticing the expanding and shrinking of your chest as you breathe in and out.
Just keep observing. Simply notice your breathing pattern. For a few more breaths…
Now, believe it or not, I can virtually guarantee you that just by observing your breathing, you started breathing more deeply and fully.
That’s the Hawthorne Effect – when you subconsciously change your behavior as a result of being monitored.
Using the Hawthorne Effect
In 1955, Henry A. Landsberger In 1928, Elton Mayo tried measuring the effect of lighting levels on the productivity of Hawthorne factory workers. He formed three groups. One with increased lighting levels, one with decreased lighting, and a control group with unchanged lighting.
As expected, the group with increased lighting experienced a measurable increase in productivity. But lo and behold… the increase in productivity was matched almost equally by the other two groups! The single biggest factor influencing the workers’ productivity was that someone paid attention to their efforts.
You can easily use this to encourage positive behaviors in a friend or colleague. Just let them know you’re noticing.
But watch out! Don’t praise them – they would usually perceive that as you being condescending or trying to control them. Instead, neutrally report what you’re noticing. Like “I noticed that you are …”. No judgment. Just plain facts.
This lets the person believe they’re fully in control, and makes the Hawthorne Effect kick in the strongest!
Using the Hawthorne Effect for Yourself
But while helping others is nice, wouldn’t it be great to use the Hawthorne effect for yourself?
Of course it would 
And it’s so easy! Just like focusing on your breathing makes you breathe more deeply and fully, without any conscious effort.
Simply start recording some behavior you want to improve. (My two favorites are spending and eating habits.) And my favorite way to do that is a 30-day trial:
For thirty days straight, record exactly how much you spend and what you spend it on. Not only will you become more aware of what you’re spending money on, and where you could make improvements… You will automatically use your money more wisely! All hail the Hawthorne Effect!
And that’s all. It’s that simple. Just start recording, and watch yourself effortlessly change your behavior for the better.
Have a great day!
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve never heard of the Hawthorne Effect before but it’s really interesting (and I think it definitely works!). Thanks for writing about it. I love learning about new things!
Awesome!! So true, there is power in the positive.
Polly’s last blog post..Golden Heart
It was 1928 and it was Elton Mayo who led the research.
I hate to come across as nit picking but I would hate to see a genuine piece of good research like this descend to the level of some of the stuff that the pop psychologists peddle around the internet.
Great blog, Vlad, been a subscriber for a couple of years now!
Dave Bull’s last blog post..Train me tender? Don’t!
@PP:
Ya, I also love learning about new things. I just couldn’t help sharing this one, when I came across “Hawthorne effect” while doing a reading assignment for a psychology module, googled it it find out more, and found all the totally awesome information!
@Dave:
Whoops, you’re absolutely right! I got a source with the correct data… and then MISREAD it when writing this article :/ (I fixed the article now)
And cheers for following for me so long
Good post and wonderful idea. Awareness is definately the first step to change.
Lisa’s last blog post..Doing what you know
@Lisa:
I absolutely agree! Hey, the whole second chapter of my free e-book is about awareness.
I definitely agree with you that it’s the first and most important step to change.
Thanks for this — I think there’s so much value in taking time to pay attention to yourself in this moment, as opposed to what’s going on around you or what you’re going to say at tomorrow’s meeting.
Cool stuff. That’s really interesting that you could do that with so many areas of your life. Imagine if you did this for a different area each month, you could really kick some #$#$ in life
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Srinivas Rao’s last blog post..10 ways to be a prolific personal development blogger
@Chris:
Definitely. It’s something I’m still working on myself though (right now I’m eating my dinner at the computer).
@Srinvas:
Hell yeah
It’s really astonishing how much you can achieve in a single year if you improve a little bit every day.
Also, as far as doing change every month – I’ve heard Scott Young say the same thing several times – most people get really motivated when they first hear about the “30-day trial” method, try to do 4 or 5 at the same time, and then crash and burn after two weeks, and don’t keep any of the habits.
If you instead focus on one habit at a time, for 30 days, you will have enough time to get it established, and then move on to the next. That’s 12 habits a year, which can pretty much completely transform your whole life. In a single year.
I find it plausible that what’s measured improves. However, referring to this as “the Hawthorne effect” might be a bad idea. From this essay:
I recommend reading the entire essay. It and this blog post made me significantly more skeptical regarding the findings of psychologists.
@John:
That was a pretty good read. I guess I’m just adding to the problem, huh?
As an evil overlord aspirer, I found this bit interesting:
Maybe I should coin a “Dolezal effect”?