Why successive proximation is effective for you?

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Successive Approximation

Description

Successive approximation is a technique from behavioral psychology where we reward ourselves for each step toward accomplishing a bigger goal.

How to Do It

Determine your large overall goal(s)
Break them down into steps. These can be objectives and tasks.
Determine what your reward will be for completing a task
Reward yourself for completing each task.

This may mean creating an goal/objective and task list and giving yourself a reward for each task completion.

Benefits

May increase the frequency of positive behavior
May help you accomplish tasks that have no immediate reward
May mitigate procrastination
May improve mood
May improve productivity and focus
May improve health

Time Commitment

5-10 minutes

Why it works

Rewarding a behavior creates a positive association that makes us more likely to engage in the same behavior again. In the brain, rewarded behaviors are associated with higher dopamine secretions [1].

This technique makes large goals tangible and makes you more likely to take specific steps towards accomplishing them.

Suggested Frequency

Daily

Supporting Studies and Articles

Arias-Carrión, O., Stamelou, M., Murillo-Rodríguez, E., Menéndez-González, M., & Pöppel, E. (2010). Dopaminergic reward system: A short integrative review. International Archives of Medicine, 3, 24. https://doi.org/10.1186/1755-7682-3-24
Armellino, D., Hussain, E., Schilling, M. E., Senicola, W., Eichorn, A., Dlugacz, Y., & Farber, B. F. (2012). Using High-Technology to Enforce Low-Technology Safety Measures: The Use of Third-party Remote Video Auditing and Real-time Feedback in Healthcare. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 54(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/cir773
Cheval, B., Radel, R., Neva, J. L., Boyd, L. A., Swinnen, S. P., Sander, D., & Boisgontier, M. P. (2018). Behavioral and Neural Evidence of the Rewarding Value of Exercise Behaviors: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 48(6), 1389–1404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-018-0898-0
Scott, D. S., & Rosenstiel, A. K. (1979). Chapter 13 - Covert Positive Reinforcement Studies: Review, Critique, and Guidelines**Reprinted with permission from Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 1975, 12, 374–384.††The authors wish to express their appreciation to Mary Grace Baron for her suggestions and careful reading of the manuscript. In D. Upper & J. R. Cautela (Eds.), Covert Conditioning (pp. 117–134). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-023346-8.50017-5

Side Effects

May induce addiction

Required Equipment

None

Gurus/Celebrities/Doing it

Brian Tracy

David Allen

Suggested Time of Day

Any time

Notes

Try not to reward your positive behaviors with unhealthy food as might have bad long term effects.
Sometimes just checking a task on your to-do list will feel like a reward in your brain
Try using task apps such as Nirvanahq.com
For groups trying to use Asana or Smartsheet
Check out the GTD method for effective task management