Akrasia Syndrome: Why are we determined, but then we don't act?

In the summer of 1830, Victor Hugo was facing an impossible deadline. The great French writer promised his publisher to release a new work. But instead of writing, he spent the whole year pursuing other projects, entertaining guests, and procrastinating his work. Disappointed, Hugo's publisher extended that he had to finish the book in less than six months, which should be published by February 1831.

Before this 'order', Hugo devised a strange plan to defeat his procrastination. He gathered all the clothes and asked his assistant to put them in a big chest. So the great writer had nothing to wear but a large shawl. Lacking suitable clothes to go out, during the fall and winter of 1830, he could only work and write frantically. On January 14, 1831, 2 weeks earlier than the deadline, the masterpiece 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' was born.

The great writer Victor Hugo.

Akrasia – The eternal problem of mankind

The 'disease' of procrastination has followed people for centuries. Even passionate artists like Victor Hugo are not immune to the distractions of everyday life. In fact, this is such an age-old problem that it is beyond the bounds of the times, that ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle developed a word to describe this type of behavior, namely Akrasia. 

Akrasia is a type of state that works against one's ability to rationally judge. It's when you still do one thing even though you know you should be doing something else. Not strictly speaking, the term akrasia can be translated as procrastination or lack of self-control. Akrasia is what prevents you from doing what you have set out to do. 

Why did Victor Hugo commit to writing a book and then procrastinate for over a year? Why do we make plans, set deadlines, and commit to goals, but then fail to deliver? 

Why do we make plans, but then do not act?

There's an explanation for why procrastination keeps gripping us and why we allow akrasia to rule our lives. This is related to a behavioral economics term known as 'time inconsistency'. Time inconsistency describes a tendency in the brain that we humans often value immediate rewards over future rewards. 

When you make a plan for yourself, like setting a weight loss goal, writing a book or learning a foreign language, you are actually planning for your future. You're visualizing your future life, and when you think about the future, your brain can easily see the value of actions that have long-term benefits. 

However, when it comes time to make a decision, you are no longer choosing for the future, but now you are in the present moment and your brain is thinking about the present self. Researchers have found that we ourselves now prefer immediate gratification, not long-term reward. 

This is why you often make plans and go to bed with an overwhelming determination to change your life, but when you wake up the next morning, everything is in place and you are still you. myself in the past. Your brain has a lot of paradoxes, on the one hand it values ​​the long-term benefits you desire in the future, on the other hand it does not want to persevere in training but needs immediate gratification in the present. 

This is also why the ability to 'postpone momentary desires' is such a great predictor of one's future success. Understanding how to resist the temptation of instant gratification, at least sometimes if not always, can help you bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be. arrive.

Strategies to beat Akrasia syndrome

Here are 3 strategies to overcome stubborn akrasia, beat procrastination, and stick to your goals.

Strategy 1: Lock your behavior in the future

When Victor Hugo puts away his clothes so he can focus on writing, he is creating what psychologists call a 'commitment tool'. The commitment tool is your choice now to control your actions in the future. It's a strategy to lock in behaviors, bind you to good habits, and limit you to bad ones.

There are many ways to create a commit engine. You can reduce overeating by buying foods in packages instead of buying them in bulk. You can voluntarily request to be added to the blacklist at casinos and online poker sites to prevent future gambling. Even athletes who are in the process of being forced to lose weight have to choose to keep their wallets at home for a week so as not to be tempted by buying fast food. Or some people have to lock their accounts so that they won't be taken up by Facebook anymore.

Everyone's situation is different, but the message of this strategy is the same: engagement tools can help you design your own behavior in the future. While this form may seem compulsive and hard to last long because it doesn't rely on your inner willpower right now, it's still remarkably effective. Be an architect of your own future behaviors instead of being a victim of them.

A system that will make it easier for you to get closer to your goal. (Photo: Storyblocks)

Strategy 2: Reduce the difficulty in the beginning

'Thousands of difficult beginnings'. Perhaps anyone who has ever pursued his or her life's goals and ambitions understands this saying very well. No matter what you do, when you start working, you will encounter countless obstacles. However, the guilt and frustration of procrastinating is often far worse than the pain of getting it done. In the words of speaker Eliezer Yudkowsky: 'In the moment, the discomfort of working is often less painful than the feeling when you are gnawing on procrastination.' 

But, why do we still procrastinate? 

Because the hardest thing is not the nature of the work, the hardest thing is how we can sit down and start the work. Obstacles that prevent you from working often focus on 'attacking' you in the beginning. There are jobs that make you feel like you don't want to do it just thinking about it. You will imagine endless difficulties even if you have not yet embarked on that adventure. 

However, just breaking through this step, you will find that the work is inherently easier than you think, and the feeling of working is not so painful. This is why it's often more important to build the habit of getting to work than sitting around worrying about whether it will work.  

You must continuously reduce your inertia. Put all the effort and energy into building the habit of how to start work as light as possible. Don't worry about the results until you have mastered this step.

Strategy 3: Make a specific plan

State your intention to perform a particular behavior at a specific time in the future. For example: 'I will exercise for at least 30 minutes at… at… on… '

There are hundreds of successful studies showing how intention-to-make has a positive impact on everything from exercise habits to flu shots. In a flu shot study, scientists looked at a group of 3,272 employees at a company in the Midwest and found that employees wrote down the specific date and time they planned to get the shot. flu prevention is more likely to go according to plan. 

It sounds simple to say that scheduling things ahead of time can make all the difference, but it's true, specific intentions make you 2x more likely to take an action in the future. up to 3 times.

Fighting Akrasia 

Our brains prefer short-term rewards to long-term rewards. It is simply a consequence of the way our minds work. With this trend, we often have to resort to crazy strategies to get the job done — like Victor Hugo being forced to put away all his clothes so he can write a book. However, if your goals are very important, then it is well worth building such commitment strategies. 

The scientist Aristotle coined the term enkrateia as the antonym of akrasia. While akrasia refers to people's tendency to fall victim to procrastination, enkrateia means 'self-mastery'. 

Designing your own behaviors for the future, reducing the friction when taking action, and creating detailed plans are all simple steps you can take to help ease your life. enkrateia rather than akrasia.