Should I do it now or later?

Freshly cleaned dishes are neatly stacked in the kitchen sink, ready to be put away.

Do you have things on your to do list that keep getting pushed to the bottom?

Why do you think you do that? Do you think it will take too much time?

How would you feel if the chore was just done and out of the way?

After lunch today I decided to hand wash the breakfast and lunch dishes. It took me 7 minutes.

If I had put some dishes in the dishwasher and hand washed the rest it would have probably taken less time.

Then I folded a load of towels and put them away.

It took me 6 minutes.

How did it make me feel? Great, I did not have to look at a cluttered counter with dirty dishes and the pile of clean laundry was folded and put away.

Often times we put off doing chores thinking we will do them later.

When later comes, there are more dirty dishes and more laundry to take care of and this can lead to a feeling of overwhelm.

So, what can we do?

James Clear in his book Atomic Habits talks about Implementation Intention.

His formula for this is “I will (Behavior) at (Time) in (Location)”

Give it a try and let me know the results.

Now I wonder how much time it will take to wipe down the refrigerator shelves?