We hate the feeling of being bossed around, even when doing as we’re told is good for us.Psychological reactance is our knee-jerk negative reaction to being told what to do. Based on research, almost everyone has this mental reflex against being told what to do, especially when we feel that our freedom or autonomy is threatened.

Why we do the opposite of what we are supposed to do

Psychological reactance is why you hate it when your manager asks you to do a task and you feel you are being micromanaged. However, realtization dawns on you that the task was critical to your work and professional growth. We often do things against our best interests because we want to protect our freedom to behave the way we want.

Key life examples

Psychological reactance isn’t really bad.If you comply everytime with rules and instructions, you tend to be more vulnerable to manipulation.

Not something bad, but... 

It is not beneficial when, at times, it could prevent us from doing things that we should do — like be helpful to others.This affects you deeply when you are trying to make, commitments and set goals dor yourself. Example, that impulse of “don’t tell me what to do!” can kick in even when it’s you telling yourself what to do. This is because, it doesn’t feel like you telling yourself what to do. Rather it’s you from the past, when you made your schedule, telling yourself what to do right now.

You end up disobeying yourself

With an awareness about psychological reactance, you have the power to recognize and disarm it. Instead of flaking on commitments because of a knee-jerk feeling, you can change your perspective on the situation.By changing the dialogue, you empower yourself. Now you’re in charge. You’re not being told what to do; you’re choosing to make time for something that matters to you.Disarming psychological reactance takes practice, but it’s worth learning how to deal with this <a href="https://www.nirandfar.com/internal-triggers/">uncomfortable feeling </a>that all too often leads us off track.

Change begins with your view

When researchers make a joke in the title of an academic paper, you know what’s inside is going to be good. Here’s the title I’m referencing: “A 50-year review of psychological reactance theory: Do…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

Psychological Reactance: Why We Sabotage Our Own Goals

<ul><li>The Ivy Lee method is a 100-year-old strategy for helping people become more productive at work</li><li>Under the Ivy Lee method, at the end of each night you write down your six most important tasks to accomplish the following day in order of importance.</li><li>The next day, you begin working on the tasks one at a time.</li></ul>

Ivy Lee productivity method

<ul><li>The strategy works because it reduces "decision fatigue," saves you time, and forces you to prioritize your goals</li><li>This method removes the friction of starting a new task. By determining your most important task the night before, you eliminate indecision and time-wasting the next day, allowing you to be more productive when it's time to start</li></ul>

Reduce decision fatigue

The Ivy Lee method dates back to 1918, when Lee, a productivity consultant, was hired by Charles M. Schwab, the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, to improve his company's efficiency. As <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3062946/this-100-year-old-to-do-list-hack-still-works-like-a-charm">the story </a>goes, Lee offered his method to Schwab for free, and after three months, Schwab was so pleased with the results he wrote Lee a check for $25,000 - the equivalent of about $400,000 today.

A century old productivity hack

Shutterstock/Evgeny AtamanenkoThe Ivy Lee method can help you get the most out of your work day so you have more time at home. John Rampton is not pictured.The

Psychological Reactance: Why We Sabotage Our Own Goals

A CEO and dad uses a 100-year-old strategy to get control of his schedule in just 15 minutes each night

Shri Sriram