Yesterday, we discussed the idea of using self-imposed restraints to reach goals and improve performance.  There was an interesting study conducted by a doctoral student at Harvard that investigated the nature of how humans tend to act in this regard: 

“Katherine Milkman, a doctoral student at Harvard Business School, has studied the way customers wrestle with two kinds of products: ‘wants,’ which are things they crave in the moment, and ‘shoulds,’ which are the things they know are good for them.  For instance, Milkman studied the Australian equivalent of Netflix and found that when customers rent a ‘should’ film, such as Schindler’s List, along with a ‘want’ film, such as Die Hard 3, they tend to watch (and return) the want film much faster.  We aspire to be the kind of people who watch Schindler’s List, but two weeks later, it’s still sitting on top of the DVD player, unwatched, as we rotate through the entire John McClane cycle.” (Fast Company)

So, even with the best of intentions, we’ll struggle (and often fail) to do the things that are best for us.  This is why some restraints are necessary.

With regard to your personal performance, start by asking yourself these questions:

1. Is there an activity that I could stop doing that would improve my performance?
2. Is there an activity that I enjoy and naturally gravitate towards doing that I could limit to improve my performance?
3. Are their restraints that I can put in place to keep myself from falling back into my natural tendencies?
   

Let me give you an example from my own life:  I enjoy learning about politics and popular culture.  There are a number of cable news programs that cater to this interest.  A couple of years ago, I came to the conclusion that I was wasting too much time watching these programs.  I learned that I could get the same amount of substance from reading a 10-minute summary of the news from the Seattle Times.  So, I stopped watching cable news programs.

While this was a good start, I soon found that I needed even more restraint.  I was still able to waste time, even with my conversion to the news summary.  There were times when I would read five or six articles at a sitting.  I would look up at the clock and notice that 45 minutes had passed.  I definitely needed another restraint.  I now limit myself to reading one article that catches my interest from the summary, per day. 

I was successful in eliminating one activity from my daily routine.  In addition, I found a way to replace it with an activity that has some natural restraints built into it (It’s a summary, rather than a whole show).  Even with my scaled-down activity, I hold myself accountable to a simple rule that keeps this activity from detracting from my personal performance.

For most of us, this is hard to accomplish on our own.  We need structure, accountability, and relationships to maintain our restraints.  We need help recognizing where time is being wasted and how to focus our efforts on the activities that will produce the best results.

If your manager or someone else in your organization is not providing this type of accountability, it is important to understand that you’re the one being hurt most by this arrangement.  Ask for some handcuffs during your next coaching session.