Some say that if you want to reach your goals, your commitment must be total. To save more money, you must never go on a splurge. To lose weight, you must never indulge. But, according to the authors of a new paper in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, this path is joyless and potentially ineffective. If you follow the total approach, then one lapse and you feel like a failure, your motivation dips and before you know it, your goal is in tatters.

Much better, Rita Coelho do Vale and her colleagues say, to schedule opportunities to be naughty – what they call  “planned hedonic deviations”. This helps you feel in control, makes the whole process more fun, and keeps your morale and motivation flying high. Ultimately, the researchers say, you’ll be more likely to succeed.

The researchers said their findings support a “straightforward and new technique for effective self-management”. This is new, and it points to the importance of flexibility in goal pursuit.