Our biases conspire against us

Extended breaks, like the one brought by the recent spurt of snow and ice, mess me up a little. The initial thrill wears off the first day so, then a lazy routine sets in, then I get anxious. I crave the structure and productivity of a work day while simultaneously wanting to do anything but work. It’s pretty close to the opposite of living in the moment. You can imagine requisite unsettledness that comes with it.

Hanging around the house with a two-year-old who is off his normal routine, unsurprisingly, exacerbates this. I wish his total focus on whatever is in front of him rubbed off on me, but it doesn’t work that way.

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One of the takeaways from Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert’s research is that we are awful at predicting what will make us happy. To be more precise, we pursue the short-term boost, ignore the after-effects, and neglect the long-term investments needed to achieve happiness. Eat the donut, put off the call to a long-lost friend. Fixate on buying the sports car, neglect the daily run. Stay on the couch watching superhero movies, don't write the blog entry rattling around my head. And so forth, ad infinitum.

I’ve known this for years, read a few books by Gilbert and others like him, and still find myself with a non-productivity hangover at the end of breaks. You should’ve finished this. Why didn’t you use L’s nap time more productively? You haven’t been to work and you’re still going to be behind.

Did I plan entire trip around getting a chocolate milkshake from Hugh Baby’s two days ago? Yes. Did I practice guitar each day -- something I enjoy, but hate to start? No. Did I complete (insert paperwork I’ve been needing to finish for a week)? Don’t be silly. (Yes, I know that’s an ambiguous answer. What’s your point?)

So I know all of this stuff, yet cognitive biases still get me. Not all of the time -- I’m more ambitious in the morning (...when I can drag myself out of bed…) and once I get going, I can stick with something pretty easily. I love the payoff of getting something done. But it’s really friggin’ hard getting there.

I don’t have much a grand summation. Life can be challenging and our brains sometimes conspire against us. Pretty odd piece of the human condition.

My main comfort is that most everyone reading this likely struggles with same phenomenon. Another weird feature of our brains -- solidarity in unhappiness. Funny how that works.