Worksheet · Productivity and energy

If-then plans

Decide in advance when and where you’ll do the task, and what you’ll do if you feel like putting it off.

5 minutesResearch-informedOnlinePDF

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If-then plans

When it helps

Situation 1

You’ve been meaning to do one thing for a week, but every evening it moves to tomorrow.

Situation 2

You sit down to work, and a minute later your hand is already reaching for your phone.

Situation 3

A good “starting Monday” decision lasts a couple of days and then quietly fades away.

How it works

Why it works

The wish to do it is usually there. What’s missing is a ready answer to two questions: when exactly, and what to do if tiredness or the urge to scroll hits right at that moment. Without that answer you have to decide all over again each time — and “later” usually wins.

This sheet combines two well-studied techniques. First you picture what the result will give you and honestly name the obstacle inside you. Then you link that obstacle in advance to one action: “If …, then I …”. When the moment comes, there’s nothing left to decide: the plan kicks in almost by itself.

How to fill it in

Pick one specific thing to do in the next few days.
Picture what will change once you’ve done it.
Name what usually stops you from the inside.
Decide when and where you’ll do it.
Make a plan: “If [obstacle], then I [action]”.
Take a two-minute first step — right now.

See a filled-in example

Wish or goal: Finish my CV and send it to one job opening by Friday.
Best outcome: I’ll stop beating myself up every evening for putting it off again. I’ll have a shot at a job I find more interesting.
The obstacle inside me: I feel like checking my phone “just for a minute”,
When and where: Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm at the kitchen table, right after dinner.
If-then plan: Put my phone in another room and open my CV file.
A two-minute first step: Set a reminder for Wednesday at 7:30 pm and put my laptop on the kitchen table.

What it is based on

Research-informed

If-then plans (implementation intentions) have been studied by Peter Gollwitzer. In a meta-analysis of 94 tests, such plans noticeably helped people act on their intentions (average effect d≈0.65). Gabriele Oettingen added mental contrasting: first picture the outcome, then the obstacle (the WOOP method). Combined, the two showed a more modest effect in a meta-analysis — small to medium, and smaller still when people filled in a sheet on their own, without a specialist. It helps you get started; it is not a guarantee.

If putting things off has come with ongoing tiredness, apathy or low mood for several weeks, the problem may not be planning. In that case it’s worth talking to a specialist.