The Future and the Will: Planning requires self-control, and ego depletion leads to planning aversion

Planning is a future-directed thought process that is highly beneficial, but it requires mental effort. Informed by the strength model of self-regulation, four studies (N = 546) tested the hypothesis that willingness to plan is linked to good self-control. A correlational study (N = 201) found that people high in trait self-control had done more planning than other people and also intended to make more plans during the upcoming week. A...