Even when we know what would be the best choice, we don’t always pick the right option, only to feel bad about it later. But our ability to make good choices can be improved, scientists discovered.

Making better choices with the help of self-nudging

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in collaboration with the University of Helsinki researchers pointed out how we all can be making better choices in our daily lives.

The recent month of life in self-isolation demonstrated that temptations are hard to resist even when we fully realize these things aren’t doing us much good. Binge-watching series on Netflix, opting for snacks rich in sugar instead of vegetables, skipping of exercise, and so on — even though we know what is the right thing to do.

Researchers pointed out that self-nudging is a technique that is able to assist in avoiding such traps. People just need to change their environments to make correct choices easier to make.

2 steps to make better choices

To achieve our long terms goals, scientists suggest the following steps:

1. Understand how the environment influences our choices.
2. Change the structure (for instance, disable app notifications to avoid spending hours on social media or put the right foods in the fridge to the front).

4 tools for self-nudging

Researchers also suggest several tools that can be used.

1. Reminders. For instance, notes can be taped on doors that remind you to take a certain action.
2. Framing. For instance, the decision to go for a jog or not can be framed as staying healthy till the old age or spending the late years of your life being sick. Every opportunity to exercise can be seen as the ability to increase one’s lifespan: For instance, take stairs instead of a lift.
3. Reduced accessibility. Make it less convenient to take the wrong action: For instance, simply stop buying the foods that aren’t good for you.
4. Public commitment. By making a promise to a mentor, friend, or publically to take a certain action, you will naturally want to look good in the eyes of other people.

Thus, self-nudging helps to avoid internal conflicts when choosing between the right and wrong thing.

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