"Doing the "right" thing is often unsatisfying in the short-term....Economists call this tendency to favor instantly gratifying temptations over larger long-term rewards "present bias," though its common name is "impulsivity," and it's unfortunately universal...."Oh no; they just put a drop of medicine on a lump of sugar." Oddly enough, research has shown that we rarely follow this wise approach and sweeten the deal when we set out to pursue our long-term goals. Instead, we tend to pursue behavior change without thinking of the discomfort we'll have to endure or attempting to alleviate it....In fact, in one study of the way people tackle change, more than two thirds of respondents told researchers that they typically focus on the benefits they expect to accrue in the long-run without regard for their short-term pain. Only 26 percent of those surveyed said they would try to make goal pursuit enjoyable in and of itself....Lots of research shows that we tend to be overconfident about how easy it is to be self-disciplined....Recognizing this, the psychologists Ayelet Fishbach and Kaitlin Woolley suspected that people could tackle tough goals more effectively if they stopped overestimating their willpower. They predicted that if people focused on making long-term goal pursuit more enjoyable in the short-term by adding the proverbial lump of sugar to their medicine, they'd be far more successful....Rather than believing we'll be able to "just do it" (as Nike implores us), we can make more progress if we recognize that we struggle to do what's distasteful in the moment and look for ways to make those activities sweeter....And it confirmed that temptation bundling can change behavior in a robust, lasting way....The moral of this research to me is that temptation bundling certainly works best if you can actually restrict an indulgence to whenever you're doing a task that requires an extra boost of motivation (such as making it possible to listen to audiobooks only at the gym, and not in your car or on the bus). But merely suggesting that people try temptation bundling is enough to produce benefits that last."
O que se entende por "temptation bundling"?
"emparelhar uma actividade agradável (uma "tentação") com uma tarefa útil mas menos atraente, de forma a aumentar a probabilidade de realização desta última.
Consiste em agrupar algo que se deseja fazer (por exemplo, ver a sua série preferida) com algo que se deve fazer (por exemplo, fazer exercício físico), permitindo-se a actividade agradável apenas durante a execução da tarefa produtiva.
Tira partido da psicologia da gratificação imediata para reforçar o autocontrolo ao longo do tempo. A recompensa (a tentação) torna a tarefa necessária mais apelativa, transformando-a num ciclo de hábito.
Trechos retirados de "The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be" de Katy Milkman.
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