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Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

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Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#31

Post by GCA10 »

This article treats all types of announcements as being equal. Not so!

A hazy announcement like "I'll be doing more to fight climate change" may indeed be empty virtue signaling that leads to nothing.

But what about a more precise announcement like: "I'll be writing a book on Topic X, which I plan to publish 15 months from now, and I'll be completing one chapter on the 25th of every month until then"? Now we've got intermediate deadlines, and deliverables, and at least the first stirrings of a coherent plan.

Announcements can work quite well, as long as you're willing to commit with enough clarity that your friends and rivals will keep you honest.

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#32

Post by burtonator »

There's another counter to this. If you announce your plans but put a penalty on it for non-accomplishment it acts as a commitment device.

You should read about commitment devices in general but the idea is they FORCE you to do something you know you're probably not going to do.

A good example is to tell your friend you're going to run a marathon and if you don't you'll give her $1000.

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#33

Post by SkyTreasure »

malux85 wrote: post #23
SkyTreasure wrote: post #12

So true it happens to me many times. When I tell about the new idea or half done projects I feel less motivated to complete it. So right now my lips are sealed on the current project that I am working and it's coming in good shape as of now

Did you just jinkx the “coming in good shape as of now” part because you announced it?

Nope unless i tell what i am building its jinkx protected :D

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#34

Post by xwdv »

JohnFen wrote: post #24

I'm exactly opposite of that. If I announce plans, that adds an additional cost (embarrassment) to failing to accomplish them, which makes it less likely that I'll procrastinate or abandon the effort.

This only works if people are excited for what you are making.

I once worked on an ambitious game for months, and then decided to make an announcement about what I was building. The reaction from most people was meh. I stopped working on it about a month later and all remaining copies of it have since been deleted by now. Never released.

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#35

Post by wool_gather »

burtonator wrote: post #32

There's another counter to this. If you announce your plans but put a penalty on it for non-accomplishment it acts as a commitment device. You should read about commitment devices in general but the idea is they FORCE you to do something you know you're probably not going to do. A good example is to tell your friend you're going to run a marathon and if you don't you'll give her $1000.

The way you phrased that kind of makes it sound like just another commitment to be avoided. Wouldn't you need to do something more like "give your friend $1000 in escrow and tell her she should only give it back to you if you run the marathon"?

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#36

Post by wool_gather »

mzkply wrote: post #8

That has the exact opposite effect on me. I actually use that method to shame myself into accomplishing what I've announced...

Agree. It seems plausible that this just varies by personality: some people are motivated by announcing, some are demotivated (and probably some are indifferent).

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#37

Post by mbarronj »

I call them "Secret Plans". You gotta save up the emotional energy and reward. On so many projects, you get the same neuro-chemical reward by talking about your project plans and how cool the result will be, as you do by making progress. By holding out, and only allowing progress itself to be a reward, and not just the talking, I usually get much further. The project may still die, but then I have something in my hands usually, and that's more rewarding than a bunch of people who think I only talk about things and never start/do any of them. . .

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#38

Post by gadders »

burtonator wrote: post #32

There's another counter to this. If you announce your plans but put a penalty on it for non-accomplishment it acts as a commitment device. You should read about commitment devices in general but the idea is they FORCE you to do something you know you're probably not going to do. A good example is to tell your friend you're going to run a marathon and if you don't you'll give her $1000.

You can go to a website like https://www.stickk.com/ and set up your commitment contract there.

Re: Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them (2009)

#39

Post by Folcon »

mbarronj wrote: post #37

I call them "Secret Plans". You gotta save up the emotional energy and reward. On so many projects, you get the same neuro-chemical reward by talking about your project plans and how cool the result will be, as you do by making progress. By holding out, and only allowing progress itself to be a reward, and not just the talking, I usually get much further. The project may still die, but then I have something in my han…

This is certainly a position I've found myself in, there's a temptation to talk about ideas you intend to do, but the ones I get progress on are ones where I actually execute on the concept, telling people later once I have something solid to show, or I already have someone engaged asking me about progress.

The current commentary might be a personality specific thing however, I've certainly seen people discuss ideas as a forcing mechanism to get them to work on them, and also people discussing ideas as a way to evaluate whether they're worth working on. I doubt it's very clear cut.

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