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So, we've never met, but we'll still go out on a limb and guess that you've probably got a bad habit or two. Something you do a bit too often, and wish you could quit. (Uncanny, right?)

Well, now that we've established that, there’s a new habit-breaking gadget that you might want to consider: the Pavlok Electro Wristband.

It's a little intense, but bear with us: Named after Ivan Pavlov — the famous Russian psychologist who got his dog to salivate by ringing a bell — this Fitbit-like wristband uses operant conditioning to trick your brain into avoiding unwanted behavior. By shocking you.

Yep, whenever you engage in a bad behavior, the Pavlok gives you a light shock. It’s harmless—like when you accidentally get shocked by a doorknob—but annoying enough that you won’t want it to happen again.



So, how does it work?

Image: pavlok

You do it all yourself. The Pavlok can't psychically guess when you're engaging in bad behaviors, so its self-administered. Either you press the lightning bolt on your Pavlok wristband or press the zap button on the Pavlok iOS/Android app. The Pavlok is fully customizable so you can adjust how weak or strong the shocks are. (And if don’t want to get shocked at all, you can set the Pavlok to just beep or vibrate instead.)

In the end, it's not really about pain, so much as it is a low-stakes way to increase your mindfulness around habits you want to break—which is a great first step to breaking them.

The Pavlok Electro Wristband normally costs $199.99, but you can get it for just $134.99, a savings of 32 percent.

Buy it here.