Why We Choose the Hard Way to Do Tedious Tasks

We often find ourselves mired in unpleasant tasks. And the longer we do an unpleasant task, the more stuck we become — persisting even if there are opportunities to switch to more enjoyable alternatives that would achieve the same goal.

While none of us want to over-persist in suboptimal approaches, research has uncovered some of the reasons why we do. People may overuse a solution once it has been learned, trying to apply it to future problems even when more innovative solutions exist. Once a method has been mastered, it’s often the first thing that comes to mind, blocking other approaches from being considered.

While attention is often given to uncovering methods that increase persistence in tasks, our research focuses on enhancing well-being by limiting over-persistence. Specifically, we examine situations in which people get “stuck” persisting in unenjoyable tasks, failing to switch to more enjoyable alternatives that would achieve the same goal. For instance, imagine you’re being paid to complete a survey. You start and find the survey task to be quite grueling. Part way through, you are given the chance to switch to a fun game for the remainder of the survey — while earning the same pay in the same amount of time. Common sense would suggest you should switch. We predicted, however, that this would not always be the case. In a series of experiments with over 4,000 participants, we found that people commonly over-persist in tedious tasks despite opportunities to switch to something they prefer. We find this occurs because the more frequently or recently someone has done a task, the more easily the procedures needed to do that task come to mind. Once these procedures become top of mind — a state we call entrenchment — the easier it feels to simply continue the tedious task rather than switch to a different task they enjoy more.

Importantly, we also identified different ways to prevent entrenchment: reducing repetition, dividing one’s attention or simply switching back and forth between different tasks. In other words, there are times when limiting or disrupting the attention one pays to a task may help them seize opportunities to switch to something that, while achieving the same goal, is more fun and enjoyable.

ENTRENCHMENT DECREASES THE LIKELIHOOD OF SWITCHING TO A PREFERRED TASK

We first ran a pilot study to examine whether participants who were automatically switched to a preferred task were more satisfied with the experience. Participants did 10 rounds of a task. For some, that meant 10 rounds of a tedious task: transcribing text that had been rotated 90 degrees to the right. Others did seven rounds of the tedious task and then were automatically switched to a fun word game for their last three. Participants who were automatically switched reported liking the survey more, providing foundational evidence that participants who choose not to switch to their preferred task when given a chance in later experiments will have lower satisfaction.

Next, we established that, when given an opportunity to switch to a preferred task, a significant subset of participants would fail to do so. In our experiment, once participants were on a roll with the tedious transcription task and given the opportunity to switch to a fun game they preferred, nearly a quarter chose not to.

Subsequently, we demonstrated that entrenchment grows over time: The more someone continuously repeats a task, the less likely they are to switch. Participants were assigned to the tedious transcription task and at different points during the study were given an opportunity to switch to the preferred word game. We found that across all conditions a significant subset of participants (21%) chose to continue the tedious transcription task rather than switch to the game they preferred. Participants were also more likely to make this choice the more entrenched they were: 28% of high-entrenchment participants chose to forego the opportunity to switch compared to just 16% of low-entrenchment participants.

To better understand why people made this choice, we ran a similar study in which we asked low-, medium- and high-entrenchment participants how it might feel to switch to the fun game. Participants who were highly entrenched said that switching tasks would feel more difficult than participants who were not as entrenched, motivating them not to switch. Put simply, the more one repeats a task, the more difficult it feels to shift gears and transition to something new — even when switching to a method that achieves the same outcomes in a more enjoyable manner.

Our additional studies further examined the reason why people get entrenched, and how to prevent it. Entrenchment increases with repetition and continuity — thus, limiting either decreases entrenchment. For example, having people switch between different tasks — thus breaking continuity — reduces entrenchment and increases switching. Participants who alternated between a tedious task and a fun task became less entrenched and were more likely to switch to the fun task compared to those who did the tedious task continuously. Similarly, we found that having participants multitask increased the likelihood they would make a change.

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT ENTRENCHMENT IN DAILY LIFE

Given how natural it is to fall prey to entrenchment, how can individuals, managers and organizations work to prevent it from worsening productivity and well-being? There are ways we can design our routines, at home and at work, to avoid entrenchment.

Individuals and managers may consider using tools to prevent people from becoming overly engrossed in certain tasks. For instance, when doing entrenching tasks at home or at work, we could set timers that prompt us to either take short breaks or to switch tasks. Doing so could prevent us from needlessly sticking with methods that are not only less enjoyable, but also potentially less efficient.

Organizations could also encourage employees to alternate between an entrenching task and an activity that is good for their health — such as taking a short walking meeting — reducing the likelihood they become entrenched while also improving well-being. Similarly, organizations could offer employees access to apps that limit or block selected websites or platforms to help them resist the temptation of getting sucked in to social media during work hours.

Getting stuck in ruts is ubiquitous — it happens to all of us and, as our research shows, can’t be completely avoided. However, being aware of our tendency to become entrenched — and the consequences it can have on our enjoyment, productivity and well-being — is the first step in preventing it.