How to Increase Willpower, Stop Procrastinating & Achieve More by Using “Temptation Bundling”

Many self-starters struggle with willpower, more than anything else in life. As humans, we all struggle with this, at time or another.

The concept of “temptation bundling” was termed by Wharton University of Penn. Professor Katy Milkman. The concept means that you ultimately combine something that needs to be done with something you want to do. It’s a clever method of using rewards – or the things you enjoy doing, those guilty pleasures which offer instant gratification – to invoke the willpower to also get all the things you don’t want to do.

One does not happen without the other. And the rewards aren’t something you do after you’ve completed what you should be doing more of, but rather something you can also do while completing that task. So, if you like to watch cat videos or binge on Netflix, you can tell yourself that you can’t watch the videos, unless you are walking on the treadmill.

This way, you are killing two birds with one stone, or two receiving two rewards with a necessary action. Now, this may not be the best example of brain fitness, but it does help to satisfy your physical fitness. This helps exercise look more tempting (hence the name “temptation” bundling.) You are getting a workout and satisfying your viewing needs.

The more you want to watch Netflix or cat videos, the more you will have to work out.

This helps you to satisfy you’re HERE TO THERE desires. Watching Netflix or cat videos are things you want to do, and walking on the treadmill is something you need to do.

You end up starting here, wanting something and ending up over there, achieving a goal of better health. Pretty cool, right?

If you want the desired results, you need to have a pretty strict plan in place. Although this increased performance by 50%, there is a falloff rate, after the 7th week. This is because people didn’t use the Here To There Process: Which is designed to give the exact 6 steps you need to follow, to achieve your goals, with precision.

Having a proven process in place with the right strategies, tactics, organization and process is the key to success, especially with New Year’s Resolutions.

The networks do a great job at temptation bundling when they have cross-over shows with Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.. NBC’S Derek Haas, Michael Brandt and Dick Wolf have perfected unifying theme of the three shows, which is visiting Molly's, a small bar owned by three firefighters. The Chicago franchise focuses on the professional and private lives of the firefighters, police officers, emergency medical personnel, and legal professionals who serve the city of Chicago.

During the “temptation bundling” they combine all three shows. It's less about each show having its own shape to it and more like all three shows really intertwined throughout.

They carry over the plot line from one show to next, encouraging you to spend your entire Wednesday evening immersed in their shows, on their network. Pretty slick, if you ask me.

People feel like they want to watch their favorite shows and now, they need to watch all three, to complete the story. People get excited and feel entertained and relaxed, while watching their favorite characters cross-over into the other shows.

When you find joy in doing a behavior, you will do it more often. So, if you bundle together something you really like doing, with something that you need to do, there’s a greater chance that you will achieve your goal.

If you like listening to audio books, listen to them when you are working out. By using temptation bundling, you will be learning more and getting in shape, at the same time.

Maybe you want to watch our favorite show at night, but you want to catch up on your texts. Your solution is to watch your show and clean up your texts during commercials. This way, you are cleaning up your inbox and enjoying your relaxation at the same time.

Temptation bundling is one way to apply a psychology theory known as Thorndike’s “law of effect.” This theory stated that a behavior that is followed by pleasant or desirable consequences is likely to be repeated, while behavior that is followed by undesirable consequences is less likely to be repeated. In other words, even if you don’t really want to clean out your old texts, you’ll become conditioned to do it if it means you get to do something you really want to do along the way.

Here Is How to Create Your Temptation Bundle

Here is a simple tool you can use to increase your willpower and figure out what temptation bundling strategy is best for you.

Grab a piece of paper and turn is sideways.

You are doing to make two columns.

In column one, write down the guilty pleasures that you want to do.

In column two, write down some high priority tasks that you should do.

It’s important that you write down as many of both, possible, so you can paid your “want to do’s” with your “should do’s.”

Here are a few ideas of temptation bundling:

·        Only listen to audio books while you’re at the gym.

·        Watch your favorite shows while cleaning up your texts during commercials.

·        Only watch Netflix movies while walking on the treadmill.

·        Eat out at your favorite restaurant and discuss money issues with your loved one.

·        Clean out your purse or wallet while talking on the phone with a friend.

You can also use the technique of “habit stacking” to get better results. Habit stacking is basically grouping goals that you’re supposed to be doing on a daily basis, and grouping them all together.

These may include brushing your teeth, making coffee/tea, eating breakfast, etc. You lump these behaviors in a specific time frame to reduce your cognitive stress. You basically make a check list and go through all of these habits, in a row.

For example: You wake up and make sure to schedule in a workout. This way, you know exactly what you are going to do and how long you will be doing it for. You schedule this into your day, just like you would any other appointment.

You need to have an alternate plan in case you walk outside and it rains, you need to know exactly what you will do, if this happens. Perhaps, you will go to the gym. At night, fill up your water jug, get your exercise clothes together, pack a snack… it’s the little things that slow people down the most.

You keep planning your day the same way, every day, to avoid stress. It’s important to focus on the HIT’s… “Highly Important Tasks.” (the term is coined by yours truly.)

Always Important, Never Critical

It’s important to focus on tasks that are important to you, by making sure you have a process in place to do so. When you procrastinate, you often create a mentality of tasks turning into the “critical” status, meaning that your chemical release in your brain begins to hit the fight, flight, freeze or faint mode. (faint is the new one.) This causes overwhelm, fear and anxiety in your mind and isn’t the best way to achieve goals.

By having a consistent process, you will be able to understand what is important for you to get done, giving yourself a chance to relax and move through your strategies and tactics, without additional stress. The process is the key to success and what separates the high-performers from everyone else.

What tasks are important for you to complete each day?

Take out a piece of paper and list them:

What is Important for me to accomplish, Today:

Examples;

1.      Working out is very important, but should never feel like you have to urgently do this, daily. It’s a relaxing task that improves your health and fitness.

2.     Doing brain training will never feel like an urgent task on any particular day, but will consistently change your thoughts, actions and behaviors, which will improve your life.

3.     Learning a new skill can be tedious, but when you learn to apply it into your business, you begin to see how you are standing out about your competition.

Tasks like these aren’t always critical to accomplish, but they are very important.’

Breaking tasks into bite-sized pieces is the key to achieving more. If you put these little pieces together and use temptation building, you will be able to accomplish things that are important, and will increase your self-confidence and willpower while doing so. 

Willpower is having the right habits to continue a task. In order to have willpower, you need habits. But in order to have habits, you need willpower. In order to strengthen this “habit loop” when you put the fun tasks you want to do, together with the ones you need to do, you will be able to ACHIEVE MORE in the end. 

To understand how to implement this into your life, join our free mini training and understand the 6 mistakes people make when setting goals and the 6 keys to achieving all the goals you set for yourself, with consistency. Click on www.heretothereprocess.com.