In our daily lives, we have all met friends or partners who are "late", whether it is for dinner, watching a movie or an important date, they always come later than the appointed time. Why are these people always unpunctual? In fact, this phenomenon of "inertial tardiness" may not only be a problem of poor time management, but also related to a psychological phenomenon called "planning fallacy". Hear the fog? Don't be nervous, the next step is to analyze what is a "planning fallacy" in simple terms, and share the 3 main reasons why "inertial latecomers" are easy to fall into misunderstandings, and quickly see if you or the people around you have this "symptom".
What is the "planning fallacy"?
The "planning fallacy" is a concept coined by psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1977 and refers to the fact that people tend to underestimate the time it takes to complete a task, even if they have past experience to draw on. This bias applies not only to individual behavior, but can also extend to group decision-making, for example, where a team may assume that a project can be completed within a scheduled deadline, only to be delayed by ignoring potential difficulties and variables. On an individual level, planning fallacies often arise in everyday tasks and activities, such as when it comes to getting ready to go out, and we often overestimate our efficiency and underestimate the obstacles that may occur along the way, resulting in not being able to reach our destination on time.
3 reasons why latecomers fall into the "planning fallacy".
1. Overconfidence: Leads to biased time estimates
Many people underestimate the amount of preparation time required due to overconfidence when faced with time management. They tend to think they can complete daily tasks quickly, such as grooming, changing clothes, or travel time. However, this self-confidence is actually an overestimation of the efficiency of one's own actions, ignoring potential contingencies. Studies have shown that habitual latecomers often underestimate the preparation time required for an event by up to 40%, suggesting that they cannot accurately predict the pace of their actions.
2. Over-focused: Ignoring the overall time allocation
Some people tend to focus on the task at hand and ignore the overall schedule. They may want to "do it for another five minutes", but those five minutes tend to be inadvertently extended to a longer period of time, resulting in a rush to prepare at the end. This phenomenon is known as "local optimization" in the framework of the planning fallacy, in which people tend to be overly optimistic about the task at hand and ignore the preparation time for the subsequent task.
3. Excessive neglect: Not referring to past experience
Even though some have been late many times, each time they will still be confident that they will arrive on time this time. This neglect of past experience shows another characteristic of the planning fallacy, which is that we tend to believe that "this time will be different" and ignore the time mistakes we have made in the past. This psychological bias is common in those who are habitually procrastinating, who do not seriously examine why they have been late in the past.
The impact of the "planning fallacy" on social life
The act of being "often late" can have a negative impact on existing relationships. According to the survey, more than 70% of people said that frequent late arrivals by partners or friends make them feel disrespected and may lead to conflicts or arguments as a result; Latecomers don't think they "mean to", but those who wait don't. When a person is often late, others will not only lose trust in him, but will also perceive these "latecomers" as having problems with organizational skills and responsibility, and these negative impressions will lead to social problems and even affect long-term relationships.
How can I improve inertial tardiness behavior?
"Love is late" is a common problem of many modern people, but as long as there is a desire to change, this bad habit is not incurable. For example, if you need to spend an hour preparing for your trip, you can set aside an extra 30 minutes in case of an emergency. In addition, people who love to be late can also make good use of "time management tools", such as reminders through the alarm clock or APP on their mobile phones, so that they no longer fall into the procrastination cycle of delaying leaving the house.
While there can be many, many reasons for being late, whatever the reason for being late, it can have a negative impact on relationships. "Punctuality" is a virtue, and as members of society, we should all have this basic understanding, instead of often being carelessly late, and in the long run, we will become rejected in the eyes of our friends.