Written by Ingrid Boucher.
In the spirit of fighting off excuses in my many to-do list, I went over past decisions and delayed projects. Self-analysis brought to the surface another layer of complexity to the human brain I had never realised existed. How is that we strive for the best and yet put ourselves on the sidelines?
Overjustification, is the incentive too much?
Up until recently, I had never thought about overjustification as a common denominator for my doubts in taking on a role, a promotion or completing a task with the full of my abilities. Like a lot of us, I'd pinned this to excuses or justifications mixed in one flawed definition. But I then started reading on "overjustification".
The overall concept tells of a change in motivation on performing an activity which we used to enjoy up until an external incentive such as a reward or promotion is given. Overjustification happens when your inner reasons to why you enjoyed that activity are shadowed by external factors, transforming any tasks into what your brain defines as a “chore”.
Let me elaborate on a personal example:
I have loved writing ever since I was little; creating stories and narrating life helped me in staying grounded. I have also always loved travelling and when the time finally came, I started writing about my travels and thought of ways to do so in a professional setting.
Portfolio needing to be built, I started writing for other people which is where the overjustification effect came into play. The main aspect of it comes in the transition of my hobby that I did for personal enjoyment to a full fledged-occupation where salary or reward would be expected. Suddenly it became a means to an end rather than a grounding moment, and the feeling of losing sight of the joy and control of my own writing style started hindering on how motivated I was, versus when I first started writing.
Let me use another example:
I love coffee. When I worked in hospitality, I would use the quieter times to jump behind the coffee machine and loved making my own and my willing colleagues’. As I was quietly foaming the milk to perfect silkiness, I marvelled at the skills I learned and wondered if I’d make a good barista. And when that time came, a feeling of doubt creeped in, each coffee started feeling like pressure. Did I actually want to do it? It was a task I was paid for and became something I “had to do” rather than something I “wanted to do”. And so, slowly my interest dipped.
I haven't made a “proper” coffee ever since but I am, in fact, still writing. Why?
Awareness and life experiences are what kept me writing, this would be why. I didn't know better because I had not yet had the tools or maybe support from peers to recognise my love for coffee trumped the pressure I put myself under.
Finding what matters to you
When you start making excuses, sigh at the thought of an action to be taken, feel the need to justify your actions in any aspect of your personal and professional life, there are few questions you can ask yourself:
- Why am I feeling tired of doing what I do? Is it a passing feeling, a sudden lack in confidence in your abilities and/or the imposter syndrome manifesting? Find the reason and take a step back. What is holding you back? Is it yourself or an external factor?
- Why am I finding excuses not to do it? Does it feel like a relief, does it bring more stress? Unfortunately we all have to face our fears and while excuses can bring some temporary respite it can also become a source of worry.
- Why am I doing this? Remind yourself why you do what you do and why you enjoy doing it. There are pros and cons to anything. Creating a list of the reasons you started a project or a position, or the good things that happened in a day rather than the negative, can help in bringing back the initial purpose.
Very often have I found myself looking back in disbelief that what I thought was stressful, actually wasn't, and by not making excuses I could accomplish tasks way faster. This was further helped by reading on and realising the difference between excuses, justifications and overjustification. By taking steps to understand why those thoughts appear and when they do, I was able to centre myself to what is important to my career and values.
In particular, overjustification has played a big part in my professional life. But now that I recognize how it works, pushing through doesn't feel insurmountable. Never lose sight of why you started a journey, what comes along the way are stepping stones, not walls. Keep climbing.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/excuse
https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/28240/chapter-abstract/213325532?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/overjustification-effect
https://letstalkaboutmentalhealth.com.au/2024/03/17/excuses/
