Action5

Give advice to someone facing the same challenge

Write or tell someone else how to overcome the challenge you are working on (saying-is-believing).

Focus
Evidence Potential benefit
It's too early to say whether giving advice to someone facing the same challenge helps you focus better.
- One well-controlled study, together with other tools.
- One star off: every study behind it has a serious concern.
Benefit size from An hour-long pledge session made teachers more ready to try new classroom methods, against a one-hour meeting about schedules.
Goals
Evidence Potential benefit
Giving advice to someone facing the same challenge probably helps you get a little more done.
- Well-controlled studies, but only together with other tools.
Benefit size from Writing about why your work matters helped nurses assemble more kits, against the group that only watched the tutorial.
Motivation
Evidence Potential benefit
It's too early to say whether giving advice to someone facing the same challenge helps with motivation.
- One well-controlled study, together with other tools.
- One star off: every study behind it has a serious concern.
Benefit size from An hour-long pledge session made teachers more ready to try new classroom methods, against a one-hour meeting about schedules.

What 5 studies found

Action7
Read about someone facing the same problem
Read or watch a story whose character struggles with the same problem and learn from how they cope.
Rule · with whom7
Ask someone to expect you
A personal ask or commitment to another person.
Action5
Learn how the problem works
Psychoeducation about procrastination, habits, sleep, routines or ADHD.
Action5
Challenge unhelpful thoughts
Cognitive restructuring of beliefs such as perfectionism or catastrophising.