Changing the Default Action (to "Unsubscribe").

This morning as I woke up, I faced the biggest temptation: cute stripe Ts on sale.

My addiction to stripe shirts is well known (in our household anyway).  I wonder if it's because the light blue and white stripe shirt I got at age 13 was the first somewhat fashionable piece of clothing I acquired.  In any case, there is no doubt I have too many striped shirts.  St. James, Edith Miller, Petit Bateau, Splendid, ... you name it, I've got it.

This particular email was from CARDIGAN by Lynne Hiriak, which is a sweater company I absolutely adore, but only buy from when things are 50+% off, since it's somewhat pricey.

They were having a deal on Cherbourg Stripe Tee - 55% off.  Under $40.  And unfortunately, it's f#%$ing adorable:

What kind of morning torture was this?!  Even has a cute pocket!! My willpower was about to crumble.  So I confessed my temptation.

Then, my sage-like hubby suggested: There is only limited supply of will power to go around, so change your default action to limit exhausting that will power.

What???

His example: He is bad at turning people down or saying "No," so instead, when those charity people call for donations, he'd say as a default, "Can you take us off the list?"  That way he doesn't have to disagree or argue or say "No."

Huh.  It's kind of like verbal Aikido.  Instead of having to counter something head-on, you deflect it with something seemingly neutral.

So what is my magic phrase, "Can you take me off the list?"  It's the "Unsubscribe" button at the bottom of the email.  Instead of clicking on the product (old default action) and having to resist all the cute pictures from different angles, I will scroll down the email, and click on "Unsubscribe" (new default action).  That way, they won't be able to tell me that OMG-that's-such-a-cute-shirt is on sale in the future.

...And when I think about it, if I bought something at 50% off from them twice (which I have done), cumulatively I'd still be giving them the equivalent of 100%.  Duh.

I unsubscribed from their list today.  And gained another star.

-A