If the ego-depletion model doesn’t fit how people’s self-control or willpower actually works, we need a new way to think about it. One promising alternative is metacontrol theory – a framework that makes a conceptual shift away from the idea of ‘mental resources’ to mental modes . First proposed by the cognitive psychologist Bernhard Hommel, this... See more

All of this has practical implications for how we think about effort, self-discipline and failure in everyday life. From a first-person perspective, the phenomenology of a ‘lapse’ – mind-wandering, craving a break, or suddenly rethinking your goals – may actually reflect this adaptive gear-shifting, not a failure of character or a depleted... See more

ego depletion became wildly influential after its introduction in the mid- to late-1990s. Apparently backed by dozens of lab studies, it suggested that every act of self-control – resisting temptation, focusing attention, managing emotion – taps into the same limited internal resource (the same willpower muscle, if you like). Once that muscle is... See more

From this perspective, what looks like ‘depletion’ or fatigue might actually be a transition. After an extended period of persistence, the brain may ease into flexibility – not because it’s run out of mental fuel, but because switching gears is adaptive . From an evolutionary perspective, our ancestors likely gained a survival advantage from... See more