Taking orders

Spoken commands, protocol, drills, or a quiz — doing what was asked.

Why people do it

Being told exactly what to do removes the effort of choosing, and doing it well is a way of giving something that has nothing to do with pain. It is also the part of this that survives outside the bedroom.

Smallest way in

Three instructions in a row, each small and each achievable, with a clear "good" at the end of them. Protocol works by repetition, not by novelty.

What to watch

Do not give an order you are not going to enforce, and do not give one that cannot be obeyed — a rule that fails on the first evening teaches that rules are decorative.

In the planner

68 different things carry this tag, and switching it off removes every one of them. The mildest of them sits at easy.