Making Commitments to Yourself

Posted by Anthony

I just finished reading Switch, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath. It's a pretty comprehensive book about "how to change things when change is hard". There are a lot of great concepts discussed in this book, but one simple, effective trick they recommended really stuck out to me. I know it works because I do it on a daily basis.

This trick is what they call an "action trigger". An action trigger is nothing more than a small promise to yourself that when "Thing A" happens, you are committing yourself to then do  "Thing B". We're all familiar with action triggers, although we may not realize they're deserving of a name:

• We set an alarm in the morning so that we wake up on time.
• We leaves a note on the fridge because we know we'll see it next time we get some food.
• We put doctors appointments on the calendar so that when that day comes, we're sure we won't forget.

These are all action triggers. They're simple, but they're extremely effective.

Getting things done throughout the day is all about momentum. And unfortunately, we become overwhelmed by to-do lists because we don't know where to start, or in what order we should continue. That's where action triggers come in. Action triggers force us to imagine how & when we will get something done. By simply imagining it, we are committing ourselves to doing it.

Action triggers don't always need to be centered around events; they can even be focused on dates & times. Think: "When the clock strikes 10am, I better be doing such-and-such". In other words, it's quite simply better to use your calendar than your to-do list. A to-do list is open-ended, but when you put a to-do on the calendar - that's a commitment.

By the end of each day, I have (at the very least) my schedule planned out for the next day - down to when I will eat lunch, work on Mary Jane's website feature, call John Doe, do some paperwork, and get to the gym. This helps me understand the importance of time. When every single time-slot on my calendar is filled, and something comes up, I'm forced to ask myself, "is this really more important than that?" Most of the time, the answer is a resounding "no". But without a strict schedule, it's tougher to say "no"; you have no sense of what's at stake.

In addition, I have rules and boundaries for myself, based on my weaknesses. For example, I better not be sending followup emails (Thing B) before I eat breakfast (Thing A). This is important because I know my weaknesses. I know that if I get to the computer before I eat breakfast, I won't have breakfast till 11. Amazingly, it's far simpler to avoid your weaknesses entirely than to try to change who you are. And the same end goal is accomplished.

In a sense, action triggers are all about thinking of our brains as the parents, and our hearts as the children. When we were young, our parents did everything for us - they scheduled our days, set rules and boundaries, and made sure we stayed on track. Hopefully, anyway. Our adult selves need structure too. Action triggers are a way for us to achieve that. Because as it turns out, us grown-ups have just about as much discipline and self-control as when we were children. Without structure, we're lost.