Talk:Delay

How it Works: When confronted by temptation, you delay the urge to indulge your habit indefinitely.

Delaying the impulse to indulge is one of the easier options and at the very least a useful starting point. One of the problems with human beings is that we are too influenced by the present – a bias known as “temporal discounting”. When you feel that urge it takes all your attention, and you don’t think of the longer term implications of your actions. Getting past this first stage of temptation is important because it allows you to have a more balanced view of your temptation and your habit. And the easiest place to start is to make a commitment to delay your indulgence in the habit.

You can use various time frames to delay acting out. You could say “I’m going to wait for one minute and then I’ll review where I am at,” then make the same commitment once the minute is up. Each time you successfully delay, you’re developing control over your behavior and deconditioning your habit.

Another advantage of the delay technique is that often, the more you delay the less your urge grows. This may take a little time to develop, and you might combine this technique with the distraction method, but ultimately this delay will give you a greater sense of control while also diminishing the urge.