Even though you know the benefits of exercising, you know you should move your body regularly, increase your heart rate, and make your muscles stronger, but when it comes time to jump, run, or stretch your muscles you get discouraged. You just see the pain and hardship of doing exercises and think that it is impossible to overcome your brain and body resistance.Hopefully there is a way to overcome this kind of resistance: 'temptation bundling'.

When It's Hard to Start

Temptation bundling is pretty straight forward: you “bundle” something you enjoy with something you dread.You want to do some exercise but you also like to watch your favorite show on TV? Run on treadmill while watching your favorite TV show.

What Is Temptation Bundling?

<ul><li>Listen to your favorite playlist just while you are cleaning the home;</li><li>Check and answer your emails while drinking your latte.</li></ul>

More Examples of Temptation Bundling

Our research indicates that temptation bundling devices have potential for solving two problems at once. Increasing engagement in desirable behaviors for which people often lack willpower while simultaneously allowing them to enjoy pleasurable activities guilt free.

<ul><li>When you’re struggling to find enough internal motivation to tackle something you hatean, extrinsic reward can be the push you need to stop avoiding that task.</li><li>When your brain anticipates a reward dopamine spikes, and your motivation follows suit. That means that when you match up a dopamine-producing activity with something that makes you groan, you find that dreaded task less painful.</li><li>Bundling two task guarantees an immediate reward. That’s important, especially for tasks and behaviors that would typically require a long time to produce any sort of direct payoff.</li></ul>

Why Is Temptation Bundling So Effective? 

<ol><li>Find The Right Activities. For starters the “want” behavior you choose needs to be motivating, meaning it needs to be something that you feel driven to actively pursue.</li><li>Stick with it. Another challenge with temptation bundling is that you need to be committed enough to follow your own rules. In order for it to be effective, you really can’t allow yourself to indulge in that reward unless you’re doing the prescribed “should” behavior.</li></ol>

How To Treat Yourself Through Temptation Bundling?

Learn how 'temptation bundling' allows you to tap into the brain's reward center so you can gain the motivation to tackle your most dreaded tasks. 

productivity

Productivity

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

habits

Habits

timemanagement

Time Management

Want To Stop Procrastinating? Start Temptation Bundling

Solution: Talk to yourself with kindness. Accept that you’re human, and be an <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/optimism">optimistic</a> coach rather than a negative critic.

1. You toss self-compassion to the wind.

Your parents, siblings, or other important role models may have demonstrated a “put it off” attitude, which you’ve now adopted as your own.Solution: Talk to yourself about the negative consequences these role models faced when they procrastinated. Then find new role models to mimic, specifically those who take action and experience positive results because of it.

2. You’ve learned to procrastinate from role models.

Solution: <ul><li>If you need a skill upgrade, get one.</li><li>Ask for help if it is available.</li><li>Use a new cognitive coping self-statement such as, “I can learn as I go,” or, “Extra time on this task will increase the odds of me being effective.”</li></ul>

3. You don’t think you’ll be effective at the task.

Solution: Challenge yourself to open your mind and prove your bias wrong.  Use the task as an opportunity to combat your bias.

4. You have a bias against a particular type of task.

Solution: Make a habit of starting earlier than you think you’ll need to and work on completing your task early.

5. Your time estimates are... a little off!

Solution: Remind yourself about the gains of the future, and de-emphasize the frustration of the present.

6. You focus less on the gains of the future and more on the gains of the present.

You think, “It has to be perfect,” and this overly demanding standard keeps you from even getting started.Solution: Work on diminishing the importance of doing things perfectly and emphasize the importance of completing tasks in a timely fashion. Keep a list of examples of times when perfectionism has been unhelpful to you, and of times when task completion has been more helpful to you.

7. Your perfectionism gets in the way.

Solution: Get proper treatment, including individual therapy with a licensed therapist. In addition to ruling out physical causes for your mood or anxiety.Sometimes breaking your tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks maybe help.

8. Depression or anxiety cause you to delay taking action.

Procrastination often comes from a belief that discomfort should be avoided, and you practice procrastination whenever you feel physically or psychologically uncomfortable.Solution: Challenge your beliefs about tolerating discomfort and revise what you say to encourage yourself to engage in a task.Focus on the longer-term rewards and start seeing discomfort as a prerequisite for growth, rather than as the enemy.

9. Discomfort intolerance leads you to disengage from the task.

Researchers tend to agree that the reason any particular individual procrastinates can vary. The best cure is usually to respond to whatever reason might be specific for you.

Want To Stop Procrastinating? Start Temptation Bundling

9 Reasons You Procrastinate (and 9 Ways to Stop)

Sa'id Etminani