- The Productivity Blueprint
- Posts
- Cognitive biases and how to combat them
Cognitive biases and how to combat them
Welcome to The Productivity Blueprint newsletter 🗞️
Last week we focused on attention span. We hope you had a chance to practice our productivity challenge, and feel an improvement in your focus.
If you missed last week, you can catch up here 😊
Today, we will look at 13 cognitive biases and how you can stop them from running your life. Let’s dive in.
“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis on what they find attractive”
You’re probably heard of bias before. According to Merriam-Webster, it implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favour of or against a person or thing.
We all have cognitive biases, which happen as an attempt by our brains to simplify all the information it receives every second. It’s a systematic error in our thinking that influences and affects how we make decisions and how we think about the world around us.
A great example listed in the article is paying attention to only news stories that confirm your belief. By curating what we see, we reinforce our beliefs and ignore evidence to the contrary.
Before we jump in and discuss the specific biases, you may be asking the question: how can we stop ourselves from having a cognitive bias? The answer to this is actually pretty simple. We can interrupt or stop our cognitive biases by:
Acknowledging that they exist
Seeking out viewpoints from all sides
Actively combating them through mental models
So, let’s start with #1 and identify and acknowledge some of our own cognitive biases. Here are 13 different types:
Sunk cost bias: You continue a money investment despite proof showing the benefits outweigh the cost
Endowment effect: You value an object you own more than if you didn’t own it
Status quo bias: You want to keep things the same
Confirmation bias: Only accepting information that re-enforces your beliefs
Hindsight bias: Assuming you knew an outcome even though the outcome had already happened
Anchoring bias: Relying too much on information you receive at the beginning
Misinformation effect: false memory!
Actor-observer bias: When you blame a mistake on an external force, but when it happens to someone else you believe it was caused by an internal force.
False consensus effect: Overestimating how much people agree with you
Halo effect: Judging a book by it’s cover but with people.
Self-serving bias: You believe you succeeded because of an internal force, but you also believe that when you fail it’s because of something outside of your control
Availability Heuristic: We assume certain events are more common than they actually are
Optimism bias: When you Overestimate the good things and underestimating the bad
Overall, if you realize that you may be prone to 1 or more of these biases, you’re ready to start challenging them. Honestly, I feel as thought I have fallen victim to most of these at some point — especially anchoring and the sunk cost bias. What about you all? We’d love to hear which biases most plague you.
TL/DR: Cognitive biases are a result of limited availability to process our thoughts, which will lead to us subconsciously making errors in our everyday life. A great way to combat them is to first recognize them, then try to view all the perspectives you can, and then fight them.
💡 Challenge of the week
Recognize a type of bias you may hold or get your friends/family members to tell you if you have any. Then throughout the week try to actively find ways to reduce these types of mindsets!
That’s all for this newsletter! We hope you enjoyed learning about cognitive biases and how to combat them.
Until next week,
The Productivity Blueprint Team
If you’re enjoying The Productivity Blueprint, spread the word by sharing the sign up link with a colleague or friend. We appreciate the support 🙏
Partner with The Productivity Blueprint!
Contact us to learn more.