A Case for Working Naked
In “The Endowed Progress Effect: How Artificial Advancement Increases Effort” (Journal of Consumer Research), Joseph Nunes and Xavier Drèze explain how our mind tricks us into thinking we’ve achieved more than we have.
The researchers a a looked at a fun little game that retailers play. Loyalty discounts! We have all had the experience of getting a loyalty discount punchcard. “Buy eight meals, get one free!”
The researchers ran an experiment. They gave customers a punchcard with eight slots. All were empty. For another group of customers they gave them a punch card with nine slots, but the first one was already punched. With yet another set of customers they gave them a punch card with ten slots, two of which were already punched. The completion rate for those with more “free” punches skyrocketed tremendously. In every case you still had to buy eight meals.
Part of the effect is because that when we take that first action on our own, we are now that much further forward toward achieving the ultimate goal. We get a hefty physiological boost from any action that we actually perform. With that boost, we can coast for a little bit.
The problem comes if we got that little boost from something that wasn’t moving our most important work forward. What are some things that feel urgent every morning but aren’t our most important goal? For me, it’s getting ready. I have had an obsession about being fully dressed rather quickly in the morning. It makes me feel ready for anything.
With that readiness, I coast through the morning until I hit my first crisis. I hit that first point where something is ready to hijack the time reserved for my Most Important Work. From there, it’s all downhill to non-productive land.
The solution to this is simple. Start working on your Most Important Work as soon as you wake up. Don’t get ready for the day. Don’t go through your morning ritual. Start work immediately. Even if it’s only ten minutes, you will make a dent in your Most Important Work. You will endow yourself with some actual progress toward your Most Important Work.
If you sleep naked, don’t even get dressed. That’s right. Your Most Important Work is more important than clothing.
Work naked.
