Now or later?

How to stop procrastinating tasks you'd rather not do

We all have to do things in life that aren’t particularly appealing. Maybe it’s filling out a kid’s enrollment forms for a new after school program. Maybe it’s unloading the dishwasher, following up about the health insurance reimbursement that still hasn’t been processed, or having that awkward conversation with a direct report about a conflict with another employee. I am guessing that you don’t really want to do any of those tasks.

But if you have to do them, then the question of whether you want to do them isn’t particularly helpful.

So, change the question. Don’t ask yourself “Do I want to fill out this form?” or “Do I want to call the health insurance company again?” Of course the answer is going to be no. But if you instead ask yourself “Do I want to fill out this camp form now or later?” or “Would I like to call the health insurance company today or tomorrow?” then you might find it a little easier to choose now.

Facing the inevitability

After all, if you’re headed out for a planning retreat tomorrow, you don’t want to take the enrollment forms that are due in two days with you. You’d probably rather empty the dishwasher in the morning than at night while you’re dealing with the dinner dishes that have piled up because nothing could go in that full dishwasher. And if you’ve got a quiet moment at work, you’d probably rather call the insurance company then than during a busier time.

Asking yourself whether you want to do a task now or later is also helpful when you’re in suboptimal working conditions — on a plane, for instance, or at home but with loud work happening in a neighbor’s yard. Even interesting work may not seem appealing in those moments. You may be inclined to set things aside for a better time.

But while you don’t feel like working with the roofers banging around, asking if you’d rather work now or later changes the calculation. Would you rather do your work now amid the noise, or tonight when the roofers are gone…and you were planning on having a glass of wine by the fire with your spouse? I’m guessing now is the preferable option.

Fun first

Of course, you won’t always decide to choose tasks now and leisure later. Maybe on a Saturday you planned to put away your summer clothes and get out all your winter ones. But then your best friend says she’s unexpectedly in town and asks if you would like to have lunch. Of course you’d like to have lunch. You’ll take your leisure now, and you can do your chores later.

But in any case, when the question is yes or no, as in, “Do I feel like working on the plane?”, the answer might be an easy no. But when you realize you’re choosing when to work and when to relax, you might be able to make wiser choices.