Temptation Bundling
Only let yourself do what you love while doing what you avoid.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 80%
Taha teaches Temptation Bundling from her podcast guest Katie Milkman: you pair something you don't like doing with something you love, and only allow yourself the loved thing while doing the disliked one. Examples include only watching your favorite show while folding laundry, only listening to your favorite podcast while exercising, or only getting a pedicure while checking email. The key rule is the gate: the pleasure is permitted only during the chore. This makes unpleasant tasks feel less stressful and increases the chance you actually do them. The five-minute setup is a two-column list of wants and shoulds that you then link.
Origin
Taha learned Temptation Bundling from behavioral scientist Katie Milkman as a guest on her Young and Profiting podcast.
Core principles
- 01Pairing a disliked task with a loved activity makes the task feel less stressful.
- 02The reward activity must be gated behind the task to work.
- 03Bundling raises the odds you'll actually do avoided chores.
- 04You list your pleasures and your procrastinated tasks, then link them.
How to run it
- 1
List your pleasures
In column one, write the instantly gratifying wants and temptations you enjoy.
- 2
List your shoulds
In column two, write the tasks and behaviors you should do but often procrastinate on.
- 3
Link and gate
Pair one want with one should and allow the want only while doing the should.
Watch out If you let yourself enjoy the pleasure without the task, the bundle stops working.
In the wild
Taha cites bundling like only listening to your favorite podcast while you exercise or only eating a favorite snack while you pay bills.
→ The avoided task gets done because it's the only way to access the enjoyed activity.
Common mistakes
Breaking the gate
Enjoying the pleasure outside the paired task removes the incentive and the chore stays undone.
Bundling onto focus work
Pairing a pleasure with a task that needs full attention just splits focus and hurts the work.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone trying to make recurring chores or admin work happen consistently.
Not ideal for
Tasks requiring full concentration where the paired pleasure would be a distraction.
From the transcript
“tempt bundling is when you pair something you don't like to do with something that you love to do”
“the key is that you only allow yourself to do the thing you love if you're doing the thing that you hate”
From the episode
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