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BBC: Constantly late with work? Blame the planning fallacy

Why are we so bad at sticking to schedules? The explanation can’t just be laziness or procrastination, since in many of these cases the employees were working at full productivity. Instead, psychologists tend to blame a cognitive quirk called the planning fallacy, which leads us to consistently underestimate how long it will take us to complete a project. The result is that our original deadlines are flawed from the get-go. Whether you are managing a complex professional project, or simply trying to renovate your house, an understanding of the planning fallacy will help to ensure that you meet every goal on time. Clearly, these were fairly simple tasks, and if you are embarking on a complex project, it will still be essential to unpack the necessary steps. Research by Katherine Milkman at the University of Pennsylvania and Leslie John at Harvard Business School, for example, shows that setting “implementation intentions” can reduce procrastination and increase the chance that people will follow through with their plans. Read more at BBC