Self-nudging is not going to work for everyone, and certainly not in all situations. Changing our behaviours is hard, and there are no shortcuts. When we try to be our own architects, we may end up just designing castles in the air. But a few techniques can add to our arsenal of weapons for facing off against our own worst instincts. Here are a few of the key strategies:
Temptation bundling
- Combining an activity you’re avoiding with one you actually love doing is called temptation bundling
- Temptation bundling can be applied to a wide variety of financial chores we dread, too: setting budgets, doing taxes, filing expenses
Don’t eat the stale popcorn
- A psychology and business professor conducted an experiment in which half the people at a movie were given fresh popcorn and the other half were given stale popcorn
- Freshness and taste of the popcorn did not matter to the people, as they consumed roughly the same amount no matter if the popcorn was fresh or stale
- Nothing in life can be achieved without habits. We need them just to get through the day
Commitment Devices
The science of self-nudging comes down to a process of elimination of bad choices. It is a tactical reduction of your own freedom. An extreme and effective version of this is called a commitment device. You can set up your goals and put real money on the line, which you can designate for a charity you hate, if you fail to follow through.
Time Travel
- It’s impossible to get better at money without getting better at time first
- By regularly writing letters to our future selves, and by making this older version of us a real, three-dimensional character, we can do a better job in balancing the trade-offs between our present-day hedonism and our future well-being
- Time can also be a valuable tool in jump-starting new habits
