Trigger-action plans: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:43, 11 April 2023

Trigger-action plans (TAPs, also known as implementation intentions) are very concrete plans when and how to perform certain actions.

TAPs can be very powerful. When they have become familiar and automatic you no longer have to think about them. Consider the common situation where you open the fridge and look in even though that's not what you came to the kitchen for.

Even though it may feel silly, it can be very effective to actually go and practice a new TAP by acting it out a few times. For example, if you want to get out of bed immediately when your alarm goes off in the morning, go and lay down in your bed, set your alarm to go off in a few minutes and when it goes off, get out of bed exactly as you would like to in the morning. Repeat a few times as needed. "Dry practicing" new taps can also help identify potential issues with the TAP that you hadn't noticed before. If practicing a new tap is not possible, visualise it instead.

Examples of TAPs:

When i walk through the door to my bedroom I will do one pull-up.
When I sit down at my work desk I will drink a sip of water.
IF I say “I/we should do X” THEN I take some immediate action that gets me slightly closer to X happening.^[1]
When I'm waiting in line, take out phone to check emails.

It is important to choose triggers that can be acted on unconditionally. Having a TAP where the action is to decide whether you will do something will make it much less effective and it may even make you blind to the trigger over time.

External Resources

Trigger-action planning is described in the 2021 CFAR Handbook.

References

↑ From Beeminder blog post: I Resolve Not To Resolve; Or, The Anti-Resolution Resolution

[1] From Beeminder blog post: I Resolve Not To Resolve; Or, The Anti-Resolution Resolution

[1]

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 TAPs can be very powerful. When they have become familiar and automatic you no longer have to think about them. Consider the common situation where you open the fridge and look in even though that's not what you came to the kitchen for.
-Even though it may feel stupid, it can be very effective to actually go and practice a new TAP by acting it out a few times. For example, if you want to get out of bed immediately when your alarm goes off in the morning, go and lay down in your bed, set your alarm to go off in a few minutes and when it goes off, get out of bed exactly as you would like to in the morning. Repeat a few times as needed. "Dry practicing" new taps can also help identify potential issues with the TAP that you hadn't noticed before. If practicing a new tap is not possible, visualise it instead.
+Even though it may feel silly, it can be very effective to actually go and practice a new TAP by acting it out a few times. For example, if you want to get out of bed immediately when your alarm goes off in the morning, go and lay down in your bed, set your alarm to go off in a few minutes and when it goes off, get out of bed exactly as you would like to in the morning. Repeat a few times as needed. "Dry practicing" new taps can also help identify potential issues with the TAP that you hadn't noticed before. If practicing a new tap is not possible, visualise it instead.
 Examples of TAPs:
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 * When I sit down at my work desk I will drink a sip of water.
 * IF I say “I/we should do X” THEN I take some immediate action that gets me slightly closer to X happening.<ref>From Beeminder blog post: [https://blog.beeminder.com/should/ I Resolve Not To Resolve; Or, The Anti-Resolution Resolution]</ref>
+* When I'm waiting in line, take out phone to check emails.
 It is important to choose triggers that can be acted on unconditionally. Having a TAP where the action is to ''decide'' whether you will do something will make it much less effective and it may even make you blind to the trigger over time.