Temptation Bundling: Motivation Tip for Getting Things Done

Allow me to set the scene: it’s been a long day. You’ve spent most of the day running around, getting stuff done, and being super productive. You get home and remember you have a pile of laundry that needs folding you said you would get to ‘later.’ It’s also Wednesday, which means there is a new episode of The Handmaid’s Tale tonight, and you have that open bottle of Cabernet from last week that you don’t want to go bad… But you’re a capable, responsible adult; so, you choose to fold the laundry and save Handmaid’s for tomorrow when there is no housework waiting to be completed. Right?

NO. Of course you don’t! And if you do, who are you? I don’t get you and this post is not for you.

99% of us will choose to do the thing that we want to do over the thing we have to do, and why wouldn’t we? It’s really hard to come up with the motivation to do something you don’t feel like doing, especially when you know there is not going to be a reward.

I had been looking for a way to motivate myself to do the things I don’t want to do, and I came across a solution by Professor Katherine Milkman at the Wharton School. It’s called Temptation Bundling. I thought it was so brilliant, I made a video about it.

Basic behavioral psychology has taught us that getting through ‘unpleasant’ activities is a little bit easier if we know we will get a reward on the other end. Temptation Bundling brings it to the next level, turning the unpleasant activity itself into the reward.

I first heard about this idea years ago while listening to Freakonomics Radio, a podcast that analyses the world through the lens of economics. Recently, I have seen Temptation Bundling appear all over the motivational internet because of New York Times Bestselling Book by James Clear: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.  I have yet to read Clear’s book, but I am happy to report that I am now in possession of a copy and it’s next on my queue.

Have you tried Temptation Bundling? Let me know if it worked for you, or if you have any other techniques you use to get things done!