12 checked facts

Planning

Everything on this site about planning — each one naming the study behind it.

You reach goals faster when you create an if-then plan.
Formulating 'if-then' statements increases the likelihood of goal attainment because it delegates control to the envir…
Remembering to remember is a distinct, fragile process.
Research shows that prospective memory—the ability to perform a future intention—relies on different brain mechanisms …
You consistently underestimate how much time a task requires.
People exhibit a deep-seated bias to overlook potential obstacles when creating their own personal schedules.…
Your best-case scenario is your default timeline for tasks.
People consistently underestimate the time, costs, and risks of future projects.…
You are systematically wrong about your own schedule.
The planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time needed to complete a future task.…
You will always underestimate the time a task takes.
People consistently predict they will complete tasks faster than they actually do.…
You assume your future self will have your current desires.
Projection bias is the tendency to overestimate how much your future preferences will align with your present state.…
You ignore past evidence when predicting your future speed.
The planning fallacy is the tendency to underestimate the time, costs, and risks of future actions, regardless of past…
You think of future plans in impossible terms.
Construal level theory explains that the more distant an event is, the more abstractly you represent it.…
You consistently underestimate the time tasks will take.
A 1994 study found that students predicted they would finish their thesis projects in 33 days, but actually took an av…
You assume your current project will finish on time.
A 1994 study of students found they completed senior thesis projects 20 days later than their own most realistic estim…
You expect your future self to work perfectly.
A 1994 study found that people consistently underestimate how long tasks take, even when they know their own history o…