The gap between planning and doing | Kirsten Rohde | TEDxErasmusUniversity

Summary

The speaker explores the common gap between planning and executing actions, particularly in the context of healthy living and retirement savings. They attribute this gap to three main factors: changing circumstances, evolving preferences, and projection bias. To bridge this gap, they suggest strategies like realistic planning and commitment devices, emphasizing the importance of awareness in aligning our current and future selves.

Takeaways

• 🛌 The speaker humorously identifies with the audience's struggle to get up early despite setting alarms, highlighting a common gap between planning and action.
• 🍏 The desire to live healthier lives is often at odds with the actual behavior of eating unhealthy snacks, suggesting a disconnect between intentions and outcomes.
• 💼 Concerns about retirement savings are raised, with the speaker urging the audience to consider whether they are saving enough or if they are procrastinating on this important financial planning.
• 🏠 A vivid scenario is painted of the potential negative consequences of inadequate retirement savings, including downsizing and giving up hobbies, emphasizing the importance of planning for the future.
• 🔄 The concept of the 'gap' between planning and doing is introduced, suggesting that this is a universal issue that affects various aspects of life, not just waking up early or eating healthily.
• 🤔 The speaker challenges the audience to consider why they might fail to follow through on their plans, suggesting it's not just a lack of caring for the future but a more complex issue.
• 🕊️ The idea that we are different people at different times is presented, with our preferences changing from moment to moment, which contributes to the gap between planning and doing.
• 🔮 Three main reasons for the gap are discussed: changing circumstances, shifting priorities over time, and projection bias, where we fail to accurately predict our future selves' desires and needs.
• 🛏️ The example of setting an alarm is used to illustrate how our priorities can shift from the evening to the morning, leading to the decision to snooze the alarm rather than get up.
• 🔄 The speaker suggests that the gap is not necessarily a failure to do the right things, but perhaps a failure to make the right plans, indicating a need for better planning strategies.
• 🔒 Two strategies to close the gap are proposed: making more realistic plans that account for future changes in desire, and using commitment devices to enforce adherence to plans, both of which require self-awareness of the gap.

Q & A

Why do people often fail to get up early despite setting an alarm?

People fail to get up early because there is a gap between their planning self, who sets the alarm, and their doing self, who wakes up and wants to stay in bed. The doing self often prioritizes immediate comfort over the long-term goals set by the planning self.

What is the gap between planning and doing as described in the script?

The gap between planning and doing refers to the discrepancy between what people intend to do and what they actually end up doing. It arises from a disagreement between one's current self, who makes plans, and one's future self, who executes those plans.

How does the concept of 'future self' play a role in the gap between planning and doing?

The concept of 'future self' is integral to understanding the gap because it highlights that our preferences and priorities can change over time. The future self may have different desires and needs compared to the current self, leading to a conflict between the plans made and the actions taken.

What are the three reasons given for the disagreement between our current and future selves?

The three reasons are: 1) Circumstances change, leading to different decisions based on new information. 2) Our priorities for different future selves change, often valuing present needs over future ones. 3) Projection bias, where we have difficulty accurately predicting what our future selves will want or need.

How can changing circumstances affect the gap between planning and doing?

Changing circumstances can introduce new information that alters the decisions of the future self, causing a discrepancy from the plans made by the current self. This can lead to a gap because the plans are no longer relevant or feasible in the changed context.

Why do people often prioritize their present needs over their future needs?

People tend to prioritize present needs over future ones because they generally care less about the future than the present. The further in the future a self is, the less priority it receives, reflecting a natural bias towards immediate gratification.

What is projection bias, and how does it contribute to the gap between planning and doing?

Projection bias is the tendency to overestimate how similar our future selves will be to our current selves. This bias can lead to the gap because it causes the current self to make decisions based on present preferences, not accurately accounting for how future preferences might differ.

How can the strategy of realistic planning help close the gap between planning and doing?

Realistic planning involves making plans that take into account the possibility of future changes in circumstances, priorities, and preferences. By setting achievable and flexible goals, the current self adjusts expectations and reduces the likelihood of the gap arising.

What is the commitment strategy, and how does it work to close the gap?

The commitment strategy involves making it harder to change one's plans by creating constraints that force the future self to follow through with the current self's decisions. For example, placing an alarm clock far from the bed ensures that the future self must get up to turn it off.

Why is awareness important in closing the gap between planning and doing?

Awareness is crucial because it allows individuals to recognize the potential for disagreement between their current and future selves. With this awareness, they can take proactive steps to make more realistic plans or commit to their plans, thus reducing the gap.

How can understanding the gap between planning and doing improve one's life?

Understanding the gap can lead to better decision-making and goal achievement by helping individuals anticipate and plan for changes in circumstances, priorities, and future preferences. This awareness can reduce the tension between present desires and future needs, leading to more consistent and effective planning.