“I’ll work on the business this week” is a wish. “When I sit down at the kitchen table after the kids are in bed on Tuesday, I’ll write the first 300 words of my product outline” is a plan. The difference sounds small. Research suggests it isn’t.
What an If-Then Plan Is
Psychologists call these plans implementation intentions. They’re simple statements that link a specific situation to a specific action: if (or when) X happens, then I will do Y. The idea, closely associated with psychologist Peter Gollwitzer’s research, is that you decide the when, where and how in advance, so the moment itself becomes the cue to start. You don’t have to rely on remembering, or on feeling motivated.
What the Evidence Says
A widely cited 2006 meta-analysis by Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran pooled results from many studies and found that forming implementation intentions had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals (Cohen’s d = 0.65), across areas including achievement and health, as summarized in a 2021 review in Frontiers in Psychology. That doesn’t mean if-then plans guarantee results. It means that, on average, people who planned this way followed through more often than people who only set a goal.
For a side business, that matters, because your biggest enemy usually isn’t laziness. It’s decision fatigue at 9 p.m. after a full workday.
How to Write Good If-Then Plans
Good plans are specific enough that you’d know instantly whether you followed them. Use this shape:
When [time and place or trigger], I will [small, concrete action].
Some examples for a side business:
- When I sit down with my first coffee on Saturday, I’ll write one email to my list.
- When my lunch break starts on Wednesday, I’ll reply to customer messages for 15 minutes.
- When I close my work laptop on Monday, I’ll open my product file and add one section heading.
You can also use if-then plans for obstacles you know are coming:
- If I feel too tired to write after work, then I’ll edit for 10 minutes instead.
- If I catch myself scrolling other creators’ launch posts, then I’ll close the app and open my task list.
Keep Them Few and Small
Start with two or three plans for the coming week, not 15. Tie each one to a cue that reliably happens: a meal, a commute, the moment you close your work laptop. And keep the action small enough to finish even on a bad day. You can always do more once you’ve started.
Do This Today
Write three if-then plans for the next seven days, each tied to a specific time and place, and put them where you’ll see them, such as a sticky note on your laptop or a recurring calendar reminder. It takes 10 minutes. At the end of the week, check off which ones you kept and adjust the ones you didn’t.
More on Totally Relentless
- Consistency Over Motivation: How Side-Business Habits Actually Form
- Time Blocking Around a Day Job: A Practical Weekly Plan
- Track Small Wins: Why Visible Progress Keeps You Going
