Power of Commitment Devices

Willpower is among a humans' greatest strength, but studies of successful people have shown that the best strategy is not to rely on it in all situations. Save it for emergencies. There are tricks, such as using commitment devices, that enable you to conserve willpower for those moments when it's indispensable. These techniques require relatively little willpower to implement, and therefore leave you sharper for your most challenging moments.

Limits of Willpower

Creating or changing a habit requires significant willpower. Unfortunately, willpower is finite. Every decision from choosing what to eat, what to wear, what to say, and so on, consumes our willpower. When we run out of willpower, we start making bad decisions; this is known as decision fatigue. Commitment devices help us conserve willpower and avoid decision fatigue by removing temptations we would normally fight throughout the day or week.