The "I'll Do It Later" Trap

“Can you…” 

“Yeah, I’ll do it later.” 

….

“Would you mind…”

“Sure thing! I’ll get to it later.”

….

“We need…”

“That’s fine. I’ll do it later.” 

Do you find yourself constantly saying, “I’ll do it later?” If not to other people, how often do you say it to yourself? I have a friend who says it all the time. About almost everything. Deciding what they want to eat - they’ll decide later. Emailing someone back - yeah, in a few minutes. Texting me back - sorry, meant to do that. Making that appointment they need to make - it’s been a few months, but I’ll definitely do it later. 

My friend has a job that keeps them busy, but not to the point that they never have free time. But in a conversation with me the other day,  they opened up and admitted that when they have the time to get to this stuff, they feel so overwhelmed that they just… don’t. The amount of stuff they pushed off to “do later” is now scaring them away from doing any of it. They compared it to a game of Jenga. The blocks are all stacked up and balancing (like their pretty to-do list), but the moment they try to take out one block, the whole tower feels like it’ll fall down. So they avoid the blocks completely. They feel like if they avoid the tasks they pushed off, it’ll just wait in the balance until they finally don’t feel emotionally overwhelmed by it all. 

But the opposite happens.  Each day adds more blocks - more tasks. More things that come up that get the response, “I’ll do it later.” Until one day the tower does fall. One of those “to-do” items just couldn’t wait any longer, and it brings everything else crashing down with it. My friend then feels like a failure. Everyone sees how they pushed off the work. It affects their job and personal life, and they want to crawl into a hole until it all goes away. 

Thankfully, my friend didn’t crawl into a hole. They found that if they stopped saying, “I”ll do it later,” then things actually get done! It seems like common sense, but in the moment, it can be hard not to push things off. They shared with me that using that phrase and mindset of “I’ll do it later” is still healthy when it’s midnight and they need to get some sleep, or when they need to consult with a coworker in order to accomplish the task. But for the most part, they’re practicing tackling their to-do’s in life as they come along instead of pushing them off. 

By becoming conscious of that phrase and making the decision to tackle it that day or week, they have found more peace, confidence, and excitement about what’s ahead for them. They said it was like a boulder being taken off their chest. Like grey clouds lifted from their mind. They are proud of themselves each time they do one task instead of pushing it off. Try to tackle those tasks sooner, rather than later.

Challenges/Points:

• It’s easy to say, “I’ll do it later” when the task doesn’t sound appealing now.

• Pushing things off until ‘later’ often creates an emotional burden that piles up.

• Listen to how often you say to yourself or others, “I’ll do it later,” and ask yourself if that’s really necessary or if you can conjure up the sheer will to tackle it today. 

Questions:

• How often do you find yourself saying, “I’ll do it later” in a day? Can you take count? 

• Do you find that this response is more common in one situation over another? Work life? Home life? With specific people? Why do you think that is?

• How can you pivot your mindset from “I’ll do it later” to “ I can get that done now?” What positive reinforcement can you give yourself for accomplishing something today rather than being afraid/lazy/too overwhelmed and pushing it off until tomorrow? 

To talk more about this or something else on your mind text the number 494949 to chat with our team or visit RemedyLIVE.com/chat anytime, day or night.

Did someone send you this post, and you want to subscribe to our free self care guide? Text CARE to 494949 to receive daily posts.