If-then plans shrank the gap to planned bedtimes, but bedtimes didn't get earlier

The study

1. 01

   Who took part

   561 students at a large US university took part. All wanted to stop staying up too late. The first study had 383 and the second had 178.

2. 02

   What they did

   Everyone read a page about why sleep matters. One group then pictured the best result of getting to bed on time and named their main inner obstacle. They made an if-then plan to beat it and were asked to use it daily. The other group did a matched positive-thinking task for three weeks, or read 12 sleep tips for one week.

3. 03

   What happened

   People who made if-then plans felt more committed and said they went to bed closer to their planned time. In the first study the gap shrank by about 33 minutes a night, against 14. In the second it was about 38 minutes smaller. But they did not go to bed earlier or sleep longer: mostly they moved their planned bedtime later. A questionnaire about putting off bedtime showed no difference in either study.

What the study found

1. MixedProcrastination

   If-then plans shrank the gap between planned and actual bedtime more than the other tasks, but questionnaire scores didn't differ.

   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested

   Randomised trial of 561 US students who stay up too late · vs a positive-thinking task or sleep tips · they rated themselves · ⚠ only counted people who finished; numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

2. HelpedMotivation

   Students who made if-then plans felt more committed to getting to bed on time than the other groups.

   • Action: Make an if-then plan for your obstacletested

   Randomised trial of 561 US students who stay up too late · vs a positive-thinking task or sleep tips · they rated themselves · ⚠ only counted people who finished; numbers unreliable; summary claims more than the results show

Source