Defaults beat willpower. When a large US employer signed new staff up for the retirement savings plan automatically, with the option to leave, the share of people saving rose sharply. Evidence: solid In a related scheme, people agreed in advance to put part of their future pay rises into savings, and they saved more. Evidence: decent
Both were studied in US workplaces, with the employer setting it up. A standing order you set yourself is the same idea, not the same test. Evidence: worth trying
My reason for putting it on this page isn't the savings. It's one less thing to decide when your head is already full. Evidence: worth trying
Keep the amount small enough that it always clears. The point is that you never think about it.
Same theme: Money
Money
Check the account on a schedule, not a mood
Pick one fixed time a week to look at your bank account. Sunday after breakfast, say. Put it in the calendar and look then, whatever you expect to see.
10 minEvidence: worth trying
Money
Open the one you're avoiding
Pick the one letter, email or app you've been avoiding. Write down the number you think is in it. Open it now.
5 minEvidence: worth trying
Money
Say the number to one person
Tell one person you trust the actual figure you owe or are short by. Not "things are tight". The number.
5 minEvidence: worth trying