What is when-then planning?

When-then planning is a concept in personal epistemology: When X happens I will do Y — this specific format dramatically increases follow-through.

Example: You have tried for months to meditate every morning. Your goal intention — 'I want to meditate daily' — is sincere. But each morning, you wake up, check your phone, start coffee, and suddenly it is 8:15 and you are already behind. So you rewrite the commitment in a different format: 'When I set my coffee mug on the counter after pouring, I will sit on the cushion and start a ten-minute timer.' The next morning, your hand sets the mug down, and something fires — not willpower, but recognition. The cue triggers the plan. You sit. Within two weeks the meditation is no longer a decision. It is a reflex with a coffee-scented trigger.

This concept is part of Phase 34 (Commitment Architecture) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for commitment architecture.