SAY NO TO COOKIES!

I recently came across an article on NewScientist.com about the origins of willpower. While most of the discourse was on self-control, the article made a connection to memory, stating that taxing our working memory makes self-control more difficult. ¶ While the specifics of the connection are unknown, the two processes are definitely linked, leaving me to wonder how much more difficult it is for those with poor memory to maintain willpower? ¶ The article suggested that blood gluclose levels are the key to keeping our willpower strong. In one study, people were given a sugary lemonade drink before they completed a willpower exercise. For those people, self-control was not depleted in the same way as those who had had no sugary substance. ¶

“…we use up a store of willpower resources every time we make the effort to hold back or do something we don’t want to do. Exercising willpower is like exercising a muscle…and it takes time for the resources used to be replenished. Making difficult decisions and coping with stress may deplete the same resources, also sapping willpower.”

If a person is constantly on the move – whether working, chasing goats, training cheerleaders, practicing piano, selling snacks at football games, or cleaning house, does this, then, make the case for candy-craving? Quite possibly. Add to that… ¶

“Conscious, effortful control uses energy…This could explain why all-encompassing health drives so often fail. [insert extra-curricular activities here] may take all your available willpower, leaving little in the tank to fuel the new exercise regime and healthy-eating plan…”

…and it’s an even greater likelihood that cookies and chocolate will demand to be eaten. ¶ Advice for those with less-than-stellar memory? Though it may sound crazy, perhaps relying on it less would help. Rather than start the day by trying to think of, and subsequently remember, all you have to do, why not end the previous day by planning out the next? It might be hard to sit down every night to do this, but studies have found that working on your self-control in one area of life (like sitting down each night to plan) can have a positive impact in other areas (like the willpower to say no to cookies) – not to mention the fact that you’d be taxing your memory less throughout the next day, further easing the difficulty of self-control. Those same studies show that it doesn’t really matter what routine you stick to, that just sticking to something can improve your overall self-control. ¶ Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer of New York University and the University of Konstanz in Germany, makes the case for planning. ¶

“Gollwitzer has come up with a method that will help even the worst procrastinator to achieve a higher level of self-control. He stumbled across the idea while studying people’s states of mind during different stages of motivation and action. As part of an experiment, he asked some participants to write out exactly how they would complete a task, giving as much detail as possible about when and where they planned to do it. In subsequent studies he found that people who go through the trouble of making “when-where-and-how” plans were about three times more likely to actually act on their goals.

According to Gollwitzer, planning works because it takes away some of the conscious mental effort. Even something as simple as saying you will go to the gym at a certain time on a certain day is a more successful strategy than merely intending to exercise once a week. Planning can turn a “difficult conscious decision into an unconscious habit”, which makes the whole process faster and more efficient without depleting energy levels – meaning more willpower to say no to the cookies. ¶ In summation: get a planner, and make yourself use it. The actual plan will help you tax your memory less, giving you more willpower, as will disciplining yourself to do the actual planning, ultimately helping you SAY NO TO COOKIES!