Science explains
why productivity
hacks and resolutions
are practically
destined to fail
By Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
PHOTO: CHUTTERSNAP/UNSPLASH
Spoiler alert: Very few of them actually work. Here’s why.
As we approach the new year, the inevitable
flurry of self-management tips beckons. It’s a
pity that they are so hard to implement, but this
actually explains their proliferation. If there is so
much demand for suggestions on how to fix one’s
bad habits and replace them with brand-new,
effective behaviors, it’s precisely because very few
suggestions actually work.
Consider that 80% of New Year’s resolutions
are broken within two months–and these tend
to concern habits or behaviors we are actually
determined to change. So much so that they are
often recycled year after year. Think, then, how
much harder it is to find the will and persistence to
change things just in order to please other people,
like a boss, spouse, or client.
So, why are significant changes to our habits so
hard to attain? Psychology provides some useful
answers:
First, there is a big difference between wanting
change and wanting to change. Even when people
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profess a clear desire to change, what that usually
means is that they are interested in change as an
outcome rather than change as a process. In other
words, most people don’t really want to change,
they want to have changed.
For instance, when someone says they want to
lose weight, what they usually mean is that they
want to have lost weight, without the dreadful stoic
sacrifices that that would entail. Same for when
someone says they would love to learn to speak
Japanese or quit smoking.
Another way to look at this is that we probably
don’t care as much about changing as we say,
or we would not be put off by the prospect of
doing what we need to do to achieve that change.
This may sound defeating but it’s a more honest
depiction of our motivation than we have when we
pretend to want something we don’t really want.
Acknowledging this fact would minimize guilt while
refocusing our energies on the things we actually
value more than the triggers of change: e.g., free
time, sleeping, pleasure, eating, and smoking.