A will and a way

GOOD HEALTH & WELLBEING MAGAZINE

If you struggle to achieve your goals or stay on task, rest assured you’re not lazy – research says so. Trudie McConnochie explores the science of willpower, and how to increase it.

In the interests of full disclosure, I checked Facebook about every 10 minutes while writing this story. I know this because I started noting it down... until I got distracted from that, too. In the process of writing about willpower, I couldn’t fail to notice the irony of my own tendency to drift off task regularly, and that more often than not, social media was where my attention landed.

In the age of social networking, it’s never been easier to delay or avoid difficult, boring or time-consuming tasks. The #goals hashtag might be popular on Instagram, but you have to wonder whether we’re more likely to post about our goals than actually set about achieving them – and our love affair with social media itself is partly to blame. Add in fast internet connections that now allow us to binge-watch an entire TV series rather than wait week-to-week for episodes, not to mention the fact that we can get new clothes and hot dinners delivered to our door in short order, goals that take time to achieve aren’t exactly appealing.

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