Free if-then plan builder
Turn “I should” into a plan you'll follow
You know what to do. The gap is the moment itself, when tired you has to decide. An if-then plan decides for you, in advance: when, where, and what you'll do when it gets hard. Five short answers, two sentences, and it's yours.
One thing. The goal, in plain words.
A moment that already happens in your day: a time, a place, the end of something you always do.
IfSmall enough to do on your worst day. You can always do more.
then I willBe honest. This is the part most plans leave out.
IfThe backup: what you'll do instead of nothing.
then I will
Your plan
Fill in steps 2 and 3, and your plan appears here.
Say it once out loud, put it where you'll see it at that moment, and tell one person. It stays on this device; nothing is sent anywhere.
The if-then plan template
My goal: ______________________
If ______________________ (a moment that already happens: a time, a place, the end of something I always do),
then I will ______________________ (the smallest real step, small enough for my worst day).
If ______________________ (what usually gets in the way),
then I will ______________________ (the backup: something instead of nothing).
If-then plan examples
Work and follow-through
- If I open my laptop in the morning, then I write the first sentence of the report before I check email.
- If I finish a sales call, then I log one note and book the next step before I take another call.
- If I think “I'll do it tomorrow,” then I do two minutes of it now.
- If it's Sunday at 6 pm, then I write down the one thing that matters most this week.
Health and energy
- If it's 7:00 on a weekday and the coffee is on, then I put on my running shoes.
- If I reach for my phone in bed, then I put it on the dresser and read one page.
- If I want a snack after dinner, then I make tea and step outside for two minutes.
- If I miss a workout, then I do the smallest version the next day: no making it up, no starting over.
The patterns that keep you stuck
- If something good happens at work, then I tell one person instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
- If someone asks how I'm doing, then I give one true sentence instead of “fine.”
- If I catch myself replaying an old conversation, then I write it down in one line and close the notebook.
- If an unexpected bill arrives, then I open the budget before I decide anything.
Why if-then plans work
Most of what you do on an ordinary day isn't decided; it's cued. In diary studies, roughly 45 percent of everyday behavior was repeated in the same place almost every day (Wood, Quinn & Kashy, 2002). A goal lives in the part of you that plans. The moment you meant to act in belongs to the part that runs on cues, and the cue usually wins.
An if-then plan, or implementation intention, links the action to a cue in advance (Gollwitzer, 1999), so when the moment arrives, the decision is already made. Across 94 studies, plans like these had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals compared with goals alone (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). Adding the obstacle and a plan for it, the method known as WOOP or MCII, improved goal attainment across 21 studies, with a smaller but reliable effect (Wang, Wang & Gai, 2021).
Three things make the difference: a cue that already happens every day, a step small enough to do on your worst day, and a backup for the thing that usually stops you. And forgive the missed day: in the habit study above, one miss didn't set people back (Lally et al., 2010). Quitting after the miss does.
Questions people ask
What is an if-then plan?
A plan that decides in advance exactly when and where you'll act: “If [situation], then I will [action].” Researchers call it an implementation intention. It works by handing the decision to the moment itself, so you aren't relying on willpower when the moment arrives.
What's the difference between a goal and an if-then plan?
A goal says what you want (“exercise more”). An if-then plan says what you'll do, and when (“If it's 7:00 on a weekday, then I put my shoes on”). In a meta-analysis of 94 studies, adding if-then plans to goals had a medium-to-large effect on actually reaching them compared with the goal alone (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).
How many if-then plans should I make?
Start with one, plus one backup for the thing that usually gets in the way. One plan you follow every day does more than five you forget. Add the next only when the first one runs on its own.
Is this the same as WOOP?
WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan) is Gabriele Oettingen's method, and its last step is an if-then plan for the obstacle. This builder includes that step: “What usually gets in the way?” and the backup. The combination is called mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII).
How long until it becomes a habit?
Longer than the folklore says. In the best-known real-world study, a new daily behavior took a median of 66 days to become automatic, with a wide range from person to person, and missing a single day didn't set people back (Lally et al., 2010). Keep the same cue and forgive the missed day.
References
- Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009.
- Oettingen, G. (2014). Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. Current.
- Wang, G., Wang, Y., & Gai, X. (2021). A meta-analysis of the effects of mental contrasting with implementation intentions on goal attainment. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 565202.
- Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297.
Keep going: Why can't I follow through? · The self-sabotage quiz · The 12 journeys
One plan, every day, with people who see it.
In the Tribe this is the daily plank: one small step with an if-then plan, done in your real life and seen by people doing the same. Join free: All-Access is yours for your first 30 days, no credit card.