If I offered you $100 right now, or $110 in a year, you’d probably take the $100. Who wants to wait a whole year for ten bucks?
But what if I offered you $100 now, or $200 tomorrow? Suddenly, the math changes. Most people would wait.
This constant internal negotiation is called Temporal Discounting. It’s the tendency for our brains to devalue a reward the further away it is in the future. For people with ADHD or impulsivity issues, this discount rate is incredibly steep. A reward that is one hour away feels worth almost nothing compared to a reward that is right in front of their face.
This is why we eat the cake now instead of waiting for the summer body. It’s why we buy the gadget now instead of saving for the house. Our “Present Self” is greedy and bullies our “Future Self.”
Delay Sprint is a simulator designed to fix this skewed exchange rate.
The Science: Hyperbolic Discounting
Economists and psychologists plot this behavior on a curve called Hyperbolic Discounting.
When a reward is immediate, its value spikes. As soon as you introduce a delay, the perceived value crashes. The goal of cognitive training isn’t to eliminate this curve (we all love instant gratification), but to flatten it. We want to teach the brain that “Waiting = Growing.”
Studies in neuroeconomics show that engaging the Prefrontal Cortex (the logic center) during these decisions can override the Ventral Striatum (the reward center). By practicing thousands of these micro-decisions in a game, you strengthen the neural pathway that says, “Hold on. Let’s do the math before we grab the cookie.”
The Game: Delay Sprint
The game throws rapid-fire choices at you. You are racing against a clock.
- The Choice: “Do you want 50 points NOW? Or 150 points in 10 seconds?”
- The Trap: If you take the 50 points, you get them instantly and can move to the next round. If you choose the 150 points, your screen freezes. You have to actually sit there and wait for the 10 seconds to pass.
- The Feeling: That freeze is painful. You will feel the urge to just click “Now” so you can keep playing.
- The Strategy: To get a high score on the leaderboard, the math forces you to wait. You literally cannot win by being impulsive.
👉 Play the Game: Delay Sprint
Actionable Advice
- Calculate the Hourly Rate: When you are tempted to buy something impulsive (like a $5 coffee instead of making it at home), calculate the “wait time.” If saving that $5 takes you 5 minutes of effort, you are effectively earning $60 an hour. That reframing helps the logical brain take over.
- The 10-Minute Rule: If you want to buy something online, force yourself to wait 10 minutes. 90% of the “dopamine urge” dissipates in that window.
Safety & Disclaimer
- This game is for educational purposes.
- Real Money: This game uses points, not real money. It simulates the feeling of waiting, but real-world financial decisions are obviously more complex.
References
- Ainslie, G. (1975). Specious reward: A behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control. Psychological Bulletin.
- McClure, S. M., et al. (2004). Separate neural systems value immediate and delayed monetary rewards. Science.
- Bickel, W. K., et al. (2011). Executively challenged: The deal with delay discounting. Biological Psychiatry.