Summary of "The gap between planning and doing | Kirsten Rohde | TEDxErasmusUniversity"

The planning–doing gap — concise summary

People frequently fail to carry out plans they sincerely make. This persistent gap between planning and doing shows up in everyday examples: repeatedly hitting the snooze button, failing to stick to healthier eating, or procrastinating on pension savings.

Core explanation

Think of yourself as a series of different “selves” over time. The current self (who plans) and future selves (who act) can disagree, producing the gap between intended and actual behavior.

Why the current self and future selves disagree

Changing circumstances
- New information or events (e.g., technological or life changes) can legitimately change what a future self decides.
Changing priorities over time (present bias)
- We systematically value the present more than the future. As the moment of action approaches, the nearer self gets more weight, shifting choices.
Projection bias
- We overestimate how similar our future preferences will be to current ones, so planners mispredict what future selves will actually want.

Responsibility can be ambiguous: sometimes the planner makes unrealistic forecasts; sometimes the doer gives itself too much priority. Both can contribute to the gap.

Two complementary strategies to reduce the gap

Awareness that the gap exists is essential. Once aware, you can use one or both strategies:

Make plans more realistic (shift decision power toward your future self)
- Anticipate how you will actually feel or behave when the time comes.
- Design plans you know you’ll be able to stick to: less ambitious and more achievable.
- Example: set a later alarm if an earlier one won’t actually get you out of bed.
Use commitment devices (shift decision power toward your current self)
- Pre-commit to constraints that force future behavior so the future self must comply.
- Example: put the alarm far from the bed so you must get up to turn it off.

Awareness that the planning/doing gap exists is the first step; once aware, you can choose realistic planning, commitment devices, or both to reduce the tension between what you want now and what you will want later.

Practical tactics (implied and illustrated)

Increase awareness that you will change; expect projection bias.
Habits and health:
- Shop for groceries when not hungry to avoid impulse purchases.
- Set smaller, realistic behavior-change goals if grand plans repeatedly fail.
- Use commitment devices: move temptations away, make desired actions easier or automatic.
Finances and pensions:
- Use commitment or automatic mechanisms (for example, automatic savings or contributions) so future selves don’t have to choose actively.
Time-based goals:
- Design alarms, physical constraints, or social commitments that force follow-through.