One Simple Tool to Improve Your Follow Through

As a multi-passionate creative that enjoys working in many mediums, something that I often struggle with is my follow through. As soon as my motivation for a project fizzles out—and it does —I usually just move on to something else. Even though I want to finish the project, and I have a desire to do it, something stops me from continuing. There are different factors every time this happens: maybe I’m just really busy with other things, maybe it’s become monotonous and I crave something different, or maybe I just want to relax and do nothing.

if this happens to you too, you are not alone.

Whatever you want to call it, procrastination, indecision, or just a lack of self control, it’s actually incredibly common. It has a lot to do with our brains valuing instant gratification more than delayed gratification. So even though I want to finish the project, the fact that it will take another month—or however long—to finish makes it harder for me to see the value in it and therefore want to work on it. If you get stuck in these cycles like me, I propose a helpful solution.

Use implementation Intentions

An implementation intention is when you specify an action you want to participate in, and assign a date and time—in the future—to do it. For example, if I am trying to work out more, I might schedule in a 30 minute workout session at 6:00AM every weekday. Then, when it’s 6:00AM on that weekday, I’ll set a timer for 30 minutes, and work out until the timer goes off.

Another example of an intention I might have is to finish a book I’m writing. With this example, I’ll write in my daily planner, “Write for 1 hour at 9:00AM,” and I’ll choose the days I wish to do so. When 9:00AM hits on those specified days, I’ll set a timer, and get to writing.

Believe it or not, studies have shown that writing your intention down somewhere you’ll see it often, enhances the probability that you’ll do it.

Setting a timer increases that probability as well—as humans we love a good challenge either to beat the clock or to see how much we can do in a short timespan. Another side effect of setting the timer is when we’ve finished the allotted time, we immediately feel the instant gratification of finishing something we set out to do. It may be small, but we finished it.

There are no small victories.

Breaking down your intention into small pieces of time, helps make it feel more manageable. When things feel more manageable, we’re more likely to follow through.

I hope this post helped you see your projects or habits you’re trying to cultivate feel more doable!

Join the discussion.

Do you already implement this strategy in your daily life? If so, what do you use it for and how has it helped or not helped? Is there another tool you use to help you with your follow through, if so comment it below!

Thanks so much for reading!