Decide when and where, or it won't happen
Implementation intentions are simple if-then plans: "If it's this time and place, then I'll do this." A 2006 review of 94 studies by Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran found these plans had a medium-to-large effect on whether people actually followed through on their goals. Deciding exactly when and where you'll act does a lot of the work willpower can't.
I ask some version of the same question on almost every coaching call.
"Okay. When are you going to do that?" And I get some version of the same answer. "This week." "When I have a minute." "Probably Thursday?"
That question mark is the problem. "This week" is not a plan
Most of my clients don't have a problem with motivation. They want the thing. They've told me why it matters. Sometimes they've told me twice.
What they don't have is a moment. "Send the proposal this week" doesn't live anywhere on the calendar, so it floats. Monday turns into Wednesday. Wednesday turns into "I'll knock it out this weekend." And we both know how that goes.
What the research says
Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer spent years studying the gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it. His answer was almost embarrassingly simple. Decide ahead of time when and where you'll act, and say it as an if-then.
"If it's 9 a.m. on Tuesday, then I sit down at my desk and write the proposal."
He called these implementation intentions. In 2006, he and Paschal Sheeran pulled together 94 studies with more than 8,000 people. People who made if-then plans were noticeably more likely to reach their goals, and the effect was medium to large. That's a big return on something that takes two minutes.
Why does it work? When you tie a specific moment to a specific action, your brain starts watching for that moment. When Tuesday at 9 shows up, you don't have to decide anything. The decision's already made. You just do it.
What it looks like in real life
Here's a pattern I see all the time. A business owner has been "meaning to" follow up with past clients for months. It's on every weekly list. It never happens. When we finally pin it down, it sounds like this: "If it's Friday after lunch, then I send three follow-up emails before I open anything else."
Not ten emails. Three. Friday after lunch.
And almost every time, those emails go out that first Friday. Not because they suddenly care more. Because they finally know when.
If you read my post on vague goals, this is the next step. A specific goal tells you what. An if-then plan tells you when.
How to write your own
Pick one thing you keep putting off. Just one.
Name the when and where. A day and time, or something that already happens every day. "After I drop the boys at daycare." "When I sit down with my first coffee."
Name the exact action. Not "work on marketing." "Write one Instagram caption."
Write it as an if-then. "If it's ___, then I will ___."
Plan for the thing that usually stops you. "If I get pulled into email first, then I close it and come back to this." Most people skip this part, and it's the part that matters. It's also why visualizing your success can backfire if you don't plan for the obstacle.
Don't overdo it
If-then plans work best for the one or two things that keep sliding. Don't turn your whole to-do list into if-thens. Save them for the task you've moved to "next week" three weeks in a row.
So I'll ask you what I ask my clients. What's the one thing you keep pushing back? When, exactly, are you going to do it?
If you want someone asking you that question every week, that's what I do.
Frequently asked questions
What is an implementation intention?
An implementation intention is an if-then plan that links a specific situation to a specific action, like "If it's 9 a.m. Tuesday, then I'll write the proposal." Psychologist Peter Gollwitzer coined the term.
Do if-then plans really work?
A 2006 review of 94 studies by Gollwitzer and Sheeran found if-then plans had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals. They work best for specific actions you keep putting off.
How is an if-then plan different from a to-do list?
A to-do list says what to do. An if-then plan also says when and where, so the decision is already made when the moment comes.
Sources: Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
