03 strategies to reduce self-control problems

What can we do to reduce counterproductive behaviors? Let's explore 03 strategies to reduce self-control problems.

You might know that people are generally present-biased. That is, we sometimes struggle to behave in a way that benefits us in the long-term and we prefer an alternative that gives us immediate gratification (with long-term costs). It is hard to do the right thing, like going to the gym now to be healthier in the future or saving money now to have enough for your retirement in the future. As human beings, we cannot always overcome these challenges with our own willpower and we might ask: “what can we do to reduce overeating, undersaving, procrastination, and other counterproductive behaviors that feel good now but generate larger delayed costs?”.

This is the research question that Duckworth et al. (2018) answered in their paper. Let's explore 03 evidence-based strategies to reduce problems of self-control 💪

1. Commitment devices: choosing now to restrict future choice.

Imagine you could pre-order the food you want to eat for an event in one week. Is it better to pre-order, or wait and order on the day of the event?

The former seems right!

Your present self might be very nice to your future self and pre-order healthier food (of course you want to make good choices). Indeed, evidence shows that people tend to make more self- controlled choices when deciding about the future than the present (Milkman, K. L. et al., 2010).

Commitment devices can be very helpful to prevent our future selves from taking harmful actions. For example, I intentionally decided not to use my phone after 10:30pm, which helped me reduce the amount of time I spend on my phone every night before going to bed (and now I sleep way better!).

2. Temptation bundling: pairing “want” with “should”.

Temptation-bundling devices are very powerful tools that combine an activity that we should but might not want to do (e.g., going to the gym) with behaviors that are already part of our routine or give us pleasure, such as listening to our favorite podcast ((Milkman, K. L. et al., 2014).

I´m very keen on practicing my German skills daily and I try to have one session of Duolingo (a behavior that does not always appeal to me) during my breakfast, which is part of my routine and I never (ever) skip it. Although my strike is not always perfect, I'm sure I manage to learn more German than I'd do without using temptation bundling.

3. Goal setting: planning to achieve a goal

Setting specific, challenging goals has proven to be very effective in enhancing performance (Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P., 2002). Especially breaking long-term goals into smaller, more immediate subgoals can be beneficial as achieving these subgoals generates a sense of progress every time a new, small victory is achieved (Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F., 1990).

During high school I used this approach to study for my final exam (I wasn't really aware of using it). As I had so many topics to learn, I set a calendar where I wrote down what day of the week I had to finish a specific topic. Every time I achieved one subgoal I felt I was progressing and helped me go through each topic with less stress.

These are just some of the strategies explained in the scientific article. I recommend that you read it to learn more in depth on the subject or get more information about the courses to learn how to use these strategies with your clients.

Silvia Cottone

Behavioral Science Consultant

& Worldwide Keynote Speaker

Reference

Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97(1), 19–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.97.1.19

Duckworth, A. L., Milkman, K. L., & Laibson, D. (2018). Beyond Willpower: Strategies for Reducing Failures of Self-Control. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 19(3), 102–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618821893

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705

Milkman, K. L., Minson, J. A., & Volpp, K. G. M. (2014). Holding The Hunger Games hostage at the gym: An evaluation of temptation bundling. Management Science, 60(2), 283–299. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2013.1784

Milkman, K. L., Rogers, T., & Bazerman, M. H. (2010). I’ll have the ice cream soon and the vegetables later: A study of online grocery purchases and order lead time. Marketing Letters, 21(1), 17–35. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40604696