I struggle with willpower more than anything else in my life, which is weird, especially since I consider myself self-employed. Still, I battle my own willpower every morning and every night. I struggle to get out of bed at a decent hour so I’m not rushing before work, and I struggle after dinner between doing what I feel like doing (streaming my favorite series) and doing what I actually should be doing (figuring out how to finally get some money coming in from the side projects I waste so much time on).
It happens over and over. It happens every weekday.
But I’m not alone. We humans all battle with our willpower at some point. It is generally assumed to be a limited resource, even if that has been questioned lately.
More and more often, I find myself sitting somewhere thinking, „I don’t feel like doing this, but I have to, otherwise I’m not earning any money.“
And if you listen close, you will hear the same grumbling from the people around you. „I don’t want to go to the gym today,“ „I have to clean the house,“ or „I should wash the dishes.“ At the same time, these folks are fighting not to give in to their guilty pleasures—the things they love doing but that make them feel like they are wasting time—like watching Netflix, eating junk food, or playing video games.
That is not to say that we shouldn’t watch Netflix or play video games every now and then. After all, life isn’t worth living if you can’t enjoy it. But you also can’t completely forego all the things you should be doing instead.
That is where the „Temptation Bundling“ technique comes into play. Developed by Katherine Milkman, an Assistant Professor at the Wharton University of Penn and a behavioral economist, Temptation Bundling is a clever method to use rewards—or the things you love to do, your guilty pleasures that give you instant gratification—to muster up the willpower to knock out the things you don’t want to do but that often bring long-term benefits. Basically, you are killing two birds with one stone by doing what you want and what you should do together, but only together. You can’t have one without the other. And the rewards aren’t something you do after you have finished what you should be doing, but something you can do while you are completing that task.
How it works
Let’s say you really want to focus on your health by hitting the gym, but you really hate going. You also love watching your favorite shows on Netflix after work, but you feel guilty after an hour or two of TV. You feel like you could have used your time more productively and that you should have gone to the gym instead. Who doesn’t know that feeling?
With Temptation Bundling, you would use Netflix as motivation to go to the gym and as a reward for doing what you should be doing anyway. That means you would restrict your Netflix time to the exact time you spend working out—only watch your favorite series while you are at the gym. The second you leave the gym, you are left wondering what happens next in the show. The only way to find out (if you stick to the plan) is to reward yourself with the next episode while you are standing on the treadmill.
This is a good spot for series recommendations. I need something I can watch while I am sitting on my bike in our home office, trying to put some kilometers behind me on Zwift. Preferably 20-to-30-minute episodes where you don’t always have to pay strict attention but can still follow along.
But you don’t have to combine the gym with Netflix. Milkman lists various examples for bundling temptations.
„What if you only treat yourself to a pedicure while catching up on overdue emails for work? Or what if you only listened to your favorite CDs while doing your housework? Or if you only go to your favorite restaurant, where you love to eat hamburgers, while spending time with a difficult relative you should see more often.“
You could also just have a beer when you are cleaning the house or only listen to your favorite podcast while walking the dog. The possibilities are very personal, but pretty much endless.
Does it actually work?
Yes, it works. But there is a catch… or two.
Milkman conducted a study where many people who wanted to exercise more were asked to give up their iPods, which were filled with addictive audiobooks. They listened to the beginning of the audiobook during a 30-minute workout. The only way to access their iPods and hear more of the story was to visit the gym again. The control group received a 30-dollar voucher for Barnes & Noble instead and could listen to whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, without having to go to the gym. And a third group didn’t have to lock away their iPods but was encouraged to only listen to the provided audiobooks at the gym.
According to Milkman, Temptation Bundling increased the workout rate by 50 percent in the first seven weeks, which equates to about one additional gym visit per participant every two weeks. However, there is a drop-off in the rate. After the seventh week of the study, the participants went on Thanksgiving break for two weeks. When they came back, the effect of the Temptation Bundling had completely fizzled out.
That means for optimal results, you have to stick to the plan. Any deviation from the course can and likely will lead to failure, just like that New Year’s resolution you made a few months ago. To stick to the plan and not cheat, you need good self-control. If you reward yourself without doing what you are actually supposed to do—e.g., watching Netflix without going to the gym, or listening to your favorite album without cleaning—the system is going to collapse.
When you should start
During a talk at Google, Milkman was also asked when it is best to start with such methods. Is there a specific time that works better than another?
This question sent Milkman on a new journey that led to a discovery she calls the „Fresh Start Effect.“ She downloaded eight years of data surrounding the Google search term „diet,“ which is by and large the most popular New Year’s resolution. It showed a recurring trend when people search for diets and similar things and start them, like new workout routines or quitting smoking. These terms are searched more frequently at the start of a new week, a new month, or a new year. But even more significant is the fresh start effect on the first workday after a holiday or a school break, says Milkman.
The reason for this effect is presumably the feeling that with the turn of the year, your former self belongs to the past. All your failures of the year can be forgotten when you start into a new year. While this feeling is more pronounced at the turn of the year, it also happens at the start of a new week, a new month, or upon returning to work after a break.
From the study by SSRN
Just like with Temptation Bundling, this feeling of a „fresh start“ can affect everyone differently, so you have to choose the time to start accordingly.
Everyone seems to suffer from giving up on their New Year’s resolutions fast. They work for some, they don’t for others. (That’s me). So maybe you shouldn’t wait until the turn of the year. But if you feel inspired after a long weekend or a two-month summer break, use those moments of inspiration as a turning point to stick to your goals with Temptation Bundling.
If you feel like your 32nd birthday, like mine in a little over two months, is an important point in your life, use it to your advantage. Even before I read up on the Fresh Start Effect, I had started planning changes I wanted to make when I turn 32. Why is that? I have no idea, but the effect is bigger for me every year on my birthday than on New Year’s Eve, any other holiday, or the start of just any week or month.
It should also not go unmentioned that some people don’t need this arbitrary start date at all.
Find out at what times you feel most inspired to change and improve something, and act.
Multiple bundles and inertia
Honestly, I have been using Temptation Bundling for quite some time, just like many others. We just didn’t know it, and certainly didn’t know there was a term for it.
For example (but admittedly not always), I watch my Netflix while doing Mercenaries Quests. Or I listen to the latest podcast episodes while I am outside walking the dog.
I have found that it helps me more than anything else when I string multiple temptations together. I call this motivational inertia. In physics, inertia is „the property of matter to remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force.“
It is similar with my motivation: When I am working on a task, my motivation doesn’t seem to drop until the task is done, especially if I have planned out my whole day. But as soon as I sit on my couch in the evening after a long workday, I don’t want to move anymore… I don’t want to move. I only get up for one of three things: food, a drink, or a visit to the bathroom. As long as I keep moving, my willpower stays high.
I have found that I handle it best when I spread multiple temptations throughout the day: drinking a coffee while scheduling social media posts, treating myself to a YouTube video over a healthy lunch, etc.
I can’t claim that I am perfect, and I often (mostly…) lack the necessary self-control to stick to all Temptation Bundles, but the few bundles I have kept have proven to be very helpful in getting things done, even when I actually don’t want to do anything at all.
Make it a habit
The principle of Temptation Bundling consists of using a task you like doing to encourage yourself to do something less satisfying that probably has better long-term effects, like exercising or living healthier. You meet somewhere in the middle to get the best of both worlds. But as the study (and history) shows, the effect of Temptation Bundling doesn’t last forever – at least not for everyone. The idea is to use it to develop better habits so that you do more of the things you should do, instead of just doing the things you want to do.
Herbert Lui from Lifehacker explains that you should slowly detach yourself from your temptations over time and simply stick to the „should“ activities, as he calls them. Lui explains:
„For example, watch only one episode of a TV show when you start your workout, and then turn it off.“
That makes sense. If you give in to the temptations too much, it can become a crutch that holds you back. The long-term effects of your „should“ activities will likely show up over time. When you notice them, you should also start to detach from the temptations.
After all, it is habits that stick, not pipe dreams.
And until then: Keep bringing order to the mayhem in your head.
