To: Professor Bangali 

From: Tyrone Kalu 

Subject: 3 AM Motivation 

Dear Professor Bangali, 

I wanted to discuss the phenomenon of the “3 AM Motivation” that many people experience. It’s the sudden burst of energy that you get late at night, which makes you want to change your life by doing things like cleaning your room or going to the gym. However, many people find it hard to act on this motivation due to practical limitations such as gym hours and waking up their families. As a result, they end up putting off tasks until the next day, starting the cycle all over again.    

Ainslie-Rachlin model of self-control 

The behavior you’re experiencing is not abnormal. Infact a study by the Ainslie-Rachlin Model showcases why: Around the time 3 am your brain changes the preference when you want to attempt the bigger reward. For example, going to the gym, cleaning your room, ectera. However, the time it takes to commit to these tasks is drastic. So usually, you fall asleep restarting the cycle. again. 

It’s a simple issue of self-control when to do the right thing at the right time. To prevent the ” 3am motivation feeling” haunting you, here are some solution 

Step 1: Break down larger goal to small actionable ones 

-Psychologically what this does is give you a feeling of completion while inching you forward to your goal. 

Step 2: Be Precise 

-Instead of saying I’m going to the gym tomorrow. Say you’re going to the gym after I finish at 5:00 pm. Which will implant in your mind when you’re going to do the task. 

Step 3: Be consistent and innovate 

After being consistent for a while, you’ll begin to optimize certain things to get the task done while improving overtime. repeat these same three steps to any large task in order to prevent the 3 am motivation from haunting you the next morning. 

Sincerely, 

Tyrone Kalu