Why willpower isn’t enough

A senior analyst called Priyanka feels anxious about having to write and deliver a quarterly presentation. As a result, she is procrastinating and doing other work that is less important. Which tactic is most likely to help her to reduce her anxiety and hopefully her procrastination, too?

Name the emotion (eg say 'I’m anxious') and then reappraise the event as a chance for her to showcase her skills and readiness for promotion

Use willpower to complete the task

Delay writing the presentation until the day before so that the anxiety spikes and motivates her to work hard

Invest in practising mindfulness so that she can increase her long-term willpower

A finance manager called Wenjing needs to spend several hours a week constructing spreadsheets. Unfortunately, she is often distracted by having to switch back and forth between emails, instant messages and her spreadsheets. What would help her to work more effectively?

Engage in more physical exercise than she currently does in order to build up her resilience and long-term willpower

None of the other answers is quite correct

Batch similar activities (eg dedicate a certain time slot to emails and instant messages before switching them off for a while)

Aim to work from home when she needs to concentrate on her spreadsheets

When working from home, Ibrahim is concerned that he spends too much time scrolling LinkedIn on his computer during work hours. Which tactic creates the most friction for this behaviour while impeding his work the least?

Install a browser extension that blocks LinkedIn except during a 15-minute window that coincides with his lunchtime

Make a commitment to himself not to use LinkedIn during work hours – and to donate a small sum of money to charity every time he does

Keep LinkedIn open in a separate tab but behind his main work documents and browser

Turn off the wifi for the entire day.

A major implication of the article is that:

Willpower has trivial benefits and is a much-overrated concept

The tactics mentioned within the article should give most professionals enough diversity in their repertoire in order to deal with most everyday distractions and situations in the workplace

Only a small proportion of highly talented individuals possess the willpower to succeed at work

Professionals who achieve high levels of goal attainment tend to pick from a wide range of methods and strategies

The article suggests that:

Professionals may be able to achieve more by selecting flexibly from a wide range of internal and external tactics

Professionals are more likely to succeed when they rely more on external tactics (such as removing distractions from the environment) rather than internal tactics

Professionals may be able to boost their goal attainment by thinking on a case-by-case basis about the best tactic for the demands of any given situation and moment

Most professionals need to learn a wider range of tactics than they currently use

A finance director notices that her team’s work performance tends to dip on Fridays. Which of the following tactics may help to boost team performance by the greatest amount?

Use software on Fridays to prevent anyone from accessing distracting apps and websites

Spend five minutes at the end of every Thursday asking the team to reflect on their core values and what matters most to them

Play energetic (but not overly loud) music on Fridays in order to boost motivation

Schedule more demanding work to be completed by Thursdays rather than Fridays.

A finance director called Joshua is planning an away day in which to discuss strategic objectives for the next two years. Which tactic can he use to keep discussions on track?

Use chocolates and sweets as immediate rewards when any particular team member should make a contribution that is especially useful

Turn off wifi in order to reduce the team’s ability to check emails during discussions

Buy a visible timer for each agenda item and then have a separate flip chart to the side of the room on which participants can write off-topic ideas to revisit on another occasion

Play short games at points during the day (eg immediately after lunch) when the team’s energy levels may be low

Finance manager Wenjing has decided that she will only check her emails and instant messages for 15 minutes every two hours. Which of the following behaviours may help her to implement this more successfully?

All of the other answers are correct

Explain to her line manager, the finance director, the tactic that she is trying to implement in order to increase the amount of time that she can spend on more strategic projects

Switch off all audible and visual notifications on all of her devices outside of this 15-minute window

Communicate with customers to explain that she will usually respond to emails by the end of the day rather than immediately

The research suggests that:

People who are actively religious have higher levels of willpower than those who are not

People who frequently remind themselves of their core values may be able to reduce the extent to which they are affected by distractions

Becoming actively involved in a religion is likely to boost self-control

People with core values that align with their work tend to be more successful at achieving goals than those with values that are less related to their jobs

It is likely that:

Learning about self-control tactics may enhance our ability to avoid distractions and achieve more