Picture a well, and imagine that the water in the well represents self-control. When the well is full, you feel abundant strength and energy to engage in tasks that require you to be careful with your behavior, to inhibit your impulses, and to persist in the face of emotional obstacles.
When the well is depleted, however, it becomes much harder to think creatively in the face of challenges. You do not feel like you have the energy to transform bad habits or avoid temptation.
There are many different tasks that use up the supply of water in the self-control well. The water level sinks lower whenever we resist temptation, hold back distressing emotions, suppress forbidden thoughts, and try to make a choice from an overabundance of options.
Add to that list many of the situations that we may encounter on a daily basis, such as resisting potato chips, making sure we don’t speed on the way home from work, and managing the impression that we make on other people.
What is the end result of all of this restraint, suppression, and self-supervision? According to the research literature, the end result is an inability to persist in the face of obstacles. The official name for this is regulatory depletion. It means that if we use up much of our supply of self-control on one task, we have limited self-control available to use on the next task.
Consider the implications for our efforts to reign in our spending. If you’ve spent the day avoiding the box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts at work, how will you limit your spending when you go to the mall in the evening?
How would you problem-solve through that scenario? Send your ideas!
7 Responses to “Drinking From the Well of Self-Control”
Maybe just move the box of Krispy Kreme donuts somewhere else in the office where you don’t have to see them. Then you still have a good supply of self-control left by the evening!
Wow–I have to remember that term–regulatory depletion. That can be applied to overspending as well as over-eating, drinking alcohol to excess, shop-a-holics, etc. With the constant stimulation in America today, thru ubiquitous technology and marketing everywhere we look and listen, no wonder people have so much trouble with things that used to be so easy to manage. I think simplifying one’s life, removing a lot of the temptation, is the best way to avoid the regulatory depletion. Don’t shop at the superstores, go to a mom and pop grocery, don’t spend your free time on TV and the Internet, read a book, etc.
I would make a list of things that I “must buy”. The essentials….Then, if I have succeeded in this routine for a while, I would reward myself with something I would “want” – a small luxury, maybe. Ex: lipstick, or a paper back book….Perhaps in this way, the habit of self-control would be well grounded by then.
Get a good night of sleep the night before – that helps with most things! Then stay away from the area with the donuts, have a small sweet treat during the day, park close to the store you want to go to – go directly there, do not pass go and then go home!
Find a new route to your workstation so you don’t have to go past the front desk. That would’ve helped today, instead I had Girl Scout cookies for breakfast.
Great post! Gets me thinking about where I want to “spend” my self-control AND how I can more thoughtfully manage it (increase it?) in order to further improve my financial habits.
I had not linked resisting treats at work with spending later in the day/week. I think I will avoid the break room and see how that impacts my spending habits. Great idea!
Thanks for the comment, Erri. It is a fascinating line of research showing how our self-control in many different domains all comes from the same reservoir.
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