Why We Always Think We’ll Have More Time (But Never Do)
The “Yes-Damn” Effect
It’s my birthday tomorrow, and the last day of my 20s. As I enter this new decade, I’m trying to get ahead of a problem that seems to be ever-escalating. It’s quite rare, not sure if you’ve heard of it. It’s called ~not having enough time~.
I have too many things to do and not enough time. My to-do list cannot possibly be fulfilled in a day. I have priorities — and remember, when it comes to priorities, more than one means none!
I also have a terrible tendency to people-please by agreeing to do things in the future, so I don’t feel as bad about straight up saying no. It’s almost as if my current self assumes that next week I’ll have more time, “How could I possibly be this busy next week?” I think to myself. Next week comes, and surprise surprise, I’m just as busy and now I have added another task to the mix.
This phenomenon has been coined the “yes-damn” effect (Zauberman & Lynch, 2005), or more commonly, time inconsistency.
What is the Yes-Damn Effect?
In their 2005 study, researchers Gal Zauberman and John G. Lynch observe that people perceive and discount delayed outcomes based on their expectations of available resources — particularly time and money.
