I recently found an analogy about impulsive behavior.

Think about a beast. A hungry dog crying for food. There is this immediate compulsion to feed the dog because you can't bear to see it suffer. Now that it is satisfied, for the moment. The second day, it still craves for food. It is being fed. The third day, it craves for food again. It is being fed. A month into the feeding process, the dog grows. It is now the size of a tiger. It wants double the amount of food. A year later, it becomes as large as an elephant. It wants 10 times the amount of food. Guess what? You have run out of food because you just cannot keep up with the supply.

I noticed my beast crying for food today. I really wanted to play video games and felt this intense drive to open up the game with one click away. This may sound weird but I started talking to it. Here is the conversation:

I want to play video games.

Hey, I hear you. You want to play video games. That is a valid thing to want. But remember we have tasks to do before going straight to the game right? We have to finish writing an email and also wrap up compiling an Anki deck.

I don't care. I want my video game. Right now.

Hey. You know how the more I feed you with what you want, the faster you will become hungry again next time right? How about this: Let's make a deal, shall we? I know that I have been either ignoring you and not feeding you for a long time, or I have been feeding you everything that I can find and I am now putting myself on the altar of sacrifice. I want neither to happen. It doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. We can make peace.

What is the deal? I am listening.

I will finish the email and the Anki deck first. That will take me about 45 minutes or so. I won't ignore your needs because they are totally valid. I will satisfy them later. You will also get around 45 minutes of gameplay. We'll then go to bed because sleeping is underrated. Sounds fair?

Yeah.

I knew you are a reasonable beast to talk to. Pleasure making deals with you. Thank you so much for the trust in me. I will make sure to finish these tasks soon as possible. In the meantime, if you ever feel hungry again, talk to me. Tell me how you feel. Don't think about getting food right then and there but you will certainly get head pats. :)

Alright, cool. Good luck with your tasks. :)

And that is how I tamed my beast, at least for the day.