Charles Duhigg is an American journalist and author who writes about habits, productivity and the science of behaviour. His 2012 book The Power of Habit popularised the habit loop — cue, routine, reward — and is still one of the most cited books on behaviour change.
Who is Charles Duhigg?
Charles Duhigg spent years as a reporter at The New York Times, where he won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles on business practices. He became interested in habits after observing why some people and companies change successfully while others do not, and turned that reporting into The Power of Habit.
Charles Duhigg’s books
- The Power of Habit — his defining book on the habit loop
- Smarter Faster Better — eight productivity principles backed by research
Where should you start?
Start with The Power of Habit. It gives you the underlying model that most later habit books assume you already know.
Key ideas in Charles Duhigg’s work
- The habit loop — every habit runs on a cue, a routine and a reward
- Keystone habits — some habits transform everything around them
- Willpower is trainable — self-control behaves more like a muscle than a fixed trait
- Change the routine, keep the cue — habits are easier to redirect than to delete
Frequently asked questions
What is Charles Duhigg best known for?
Charles Duhigg is best known for The Power of Habit, which popularised the cue-routine-reward model of how habits work.
Should I read The Power of Habit first?
Yes. It is the best starting point — later productivity books from other authors build on the same framework.
