Defeat Procrastination With Temptation
Whether it’s jogging or getting ready for the finale, you usually motivate yourself by rewarding yourself for doing the tasks you’re afraid to do. The old carrot-and-stick method may work, but researcher Katie Milkman offers a better version: combining temptations.
Instead of rewarding yourself after being productive, use rewards to motivate yourself as you complete the task. For example, only listen to your favorite podcast while jogging. Or make it a rule to visit your favorite coffee shop only during your studies.
Milkman discusses this concept in an episode of Freakonomics and talks about how to implement it:
I realized that if I only allowed myself to watch my favorite TV shows while exercising at the gym, then I would stop wasting time at home on useless TV and start craving going to the gym at the end of the workout. long day because I want to know what’s next in my show. Not only that, I actually enjoy my workout and my show more put together. I wouldn’t feel guilty watching TV and time would fly by while I was at the gym. So when I talk about combining temptations, I mean combining temptation – something like a TV show, guilty pleasure, something that will push you into behavior – with something that you know you have to do, but you can. struggling to do it.
Sounds reasonable enough, but the Milkman studied the method to see how effective it is in practice. A study published in Management Science (PDF) found that subjects were 29-51% more likely to do the exercises when they used temptation pooling.
Coming up with a package should be pretty straightforward, but entrepreneur James Clear offers an easy exercise to get you started. Create a two-column list. In the first column, list all of your temptations: guilty pleasures, things you enjoy. In the second column, write down what you should be doing, but you don’t like: training, networking, replies to emails. Then, connect the two columns to create a set of temptations for each challenge. He offers several examples:
- Listen only to your favorite audiobooks or podcasts during your workout.
- Do pedicure only while processing expired work letters.
- Only watch your favorite show while ironing or doing household chores.
- Eat at your favorite restaurant only during your monthly meeting with a difficult colleague.
Of course, you want to think reasonably about this. Your package should really be doable. As Freakonomics notes, drinking alcohol at work is unlikely to help. For more information, follow the links below.
When Willpower Is Not Enough | Freakonomics via James Clear