Mind the default
2024-01-19
Many people seem to be stuck in life and this doesn't necessarily has something to do with bad decisions. In fact, it can be more often attributed to just a lack of decisions and that's why we should really mind our defaults. So, let's take a look at this concept, how it is used everywhere around us and how it can impact your everyday life...
The reason why we, a company and sometimes even a whole region or country gets stuck usually isn't because someone has made a bad decision, it's likely the result of a non-decision - of not taking any actions and sticking with the present. Sure, the wisdom "Never change a running system" has a lot of value to it, but there is a critical part about it that's often overlooked - the "running". We humans are rather slow to respond to changing environments and once we notice their change it's often already to late - so by sticking with something for an extended period of time we greatly increase the risk of missing an important transformation in the area we're dealing with, losing touch with it and thus getting stuck. Here in Germany, we are real masters at this missing almost every important transformation at first and still struggling with some to this date (like broadband internet access and cellular reception in rural areas), but also thankfully catching up with others (like electric cars) and even leading the field in certain areas (like getting to net-zero emissions).
In the larger picture, all of this can be attributed to our default of "not acting unless something breaks". In case you're not familiar with the concept of defaults through programming and the like, it is what happens, if none of the clearly defined cases (or action triggers in real life) are matched - it's what we do, if we don't think about the problem at hand and just do what we always do (following a non-decision). Understanding our default modes is huge, since it not only allows us to the identify areas of life we are stuck in, but also gives us the tools to change them for the better through simple and easy habits. So, what do you do after waking up, why did you come back to your rainy hometown after visiting this nice city during the holidays and who do you talk to about you day? You're answers will likely be something among the lines of "brushing my teeth, checking mails and then doomscrolling Instagram", "because a two-way flight was the default when booking" and "the people I talk to everyday". All of these are results of you or some other entities defaults and can be changed.
Whether or not they should be changed is obviously highly personal and up to you, but let's look at some more examples to get the point across anyway. Why do you still pay for this software you never use? Because the subscriptions auto-renews every month or year and that's the default. Why do you pay all of your pension contributions even though they bother you? Apart from the fact that you have to, becauso they are automatically collected by the government before your salary even gets to you bank account. And why did you gave some many tips in restaurants lately? Because the credit card terminals add a tip by default these days unless you actively decide against it - it's their default now. As you can see, an almost overwhelming amount of things in our life are a result of our non-decisions, our defaults.
But luckily we can also use this strong effect (the extreme likelihood of us humans to not take action if not unavoidable) to our advantage. Just give yourself a few minutes to think of a desired new default, try to make it as easy to follow as possible and start implementing it. Want to stay in touch with friends? Create regular events via calendar invites and force them to explicitly cancel it if necessary - they'll find time most of the times, since it's the new default. Want to exercise more? Sign up for training courses far ahead of time - they can still be cancelled, but doing them is the new default. Always work to much and relax to little? Just book a cancellable journey for the next summer right now - it isn't legally binding, but your set future if you make yet another non-decision.
This obviously isn't the holy grail to fix all you productivity problems and you shouldn't try to change all your bad defaults all at once, but it is indeed a meaningful part of everyday life and deserves its place amongst your other producitivity weapons. Start with changing one of your suboptimal defaults and then slowly, but steadily change more of them from there. It's a progress and the journey is the destination. With that said, feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments down below and have a lovely day...