Habits
by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney
Why does resolve fade by evening?
Most of us start the day meaning well and end it with the biscuit tin. The psychologist Roy Baumeister and the journalist John Tierney explain what self-control is and why it gives way. They argue that self-control and intelligence are the two best predictors of a good life.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
In Baumeister's lab, hungry students told to eat radishes and leave the chocolate cookies alone quit an impossible puzzle sooner than students given the cookies. He called it ego depletion, self-control running down with use. It's the book's central claim, though later studies have struggled to repeat the result.
The authors argue that making choices draws on the same supply. Tired deciders put decisions off or take whatever's easiest. They describe German car buyers who, choosing option after option, settled more and more often for the default. Their advice is to make big decisions early in the day.
In Baumeister's model, self-control needs standards, willpower and a habit of monitoring what you actually do. The authors are keen on tracking, from bank statements to bathroom scales, and cite studies where a mirror in the room made people stick closer to their own rules.
A muscle
Willpower works like a muscle. Use it hard and it gets tired for a while.
Radishes
Students told to eat radishes and leave the cookies gave up sooner on a puzzle that couldn't be solved.
Decisions
Deciding all day drains you. Parole judges said yes far more often early in the day and after meals.
Fuel
In their studies, low blood sugar weakened self-control. Don't face big tests on an empty stomach.
Tracking
Keeping track of what you do is one of the surest ways to get it under control.
A story from the book
Henry Morton Stanley led expeditions across Africa through starvation and disease, and still shaved every morning. The authors read this as a clue. Routines like the shave took the effort out of discipline and kept his willpower free for emergencies.
One thing to try
Tonight, list the jobs that keep nagging at you. Next to each, write the very next physical step and when you'll take it. You needn't start any of them yet. In the authors' research, a concrete plan was enough to stop a task circling in your head.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Willpower comes with a Spot the Trap case to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appWhy does resolve fade by evening? Most of us start the day meaning well and end it with the biscuit tin. The psychologist Roy Baumeister and the journalist John Tierney explain what self-control is and why it gives way. They argue that self-control and intelligence are the two best predictors of a good life.
Ego depletion; Decision fatigue; Keep count.
Tonight, list the jobs that keep nagging at you. Next to each, write the very next physical step and when you'll take it. You needn't start any of them yet. In the authors' research, a concrete plan was enough to stop a task circling in your head.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Willpower in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Spot the Trap case to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
