It's Sunday. September 13th.
Peter Gollwitzer ran the study that should be more famous than it is. Two groups, same intention. One wrote down when and where. That group followed through at roughly twice the rate.
The mechanism is that 'later' requires a decision in the moment, and the moment is exactly when you're least able to make one. An if-then makes the decision in advance, when it's cheap.
The format is fixed and boring on purpose:
The reason this feels too simple to work is that it is not doing what you think it is doing. It is not increasing commitment. It is removing a decision from a moment when you are least equipped to make one.
Gollwitzer found the effect held even for people who had failed at the same intention repeatedly. It is not a motivation intervention. It is a scheduling one, and that is why it survives bad days.
"IF it is [time] and I am [place], THEN I will [action] for [minutes]."
Write one. Just one. The specificity is the whole active ingredient.
Kevin | TodayIsTheDay
