The decision — Get it looked at

Up to now this book has asked you to look at your reasons. This chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because a rule given at the start, before the reasons had been examined, would have been pushed away as quickly as the thought of the mole.

The decision is this. When I catch myself putting it off, I book it that day.

The rule is attached to the catching, and that's deliberate. You can't stop the thought "I should get that looked at" from being followed by "but it's probably nothing, and the surgery's so busy". That sequence is a habit of years and will carry on running. What you can do is learn to hear it. The respectable reason, arriving within seconds, is the sign. From now on, when you hear yourself explaining why this week isn't the week, you take that as the signal to book.

It has four parts.

Clear the list. Go back to the list from chapter 1. Put it in order, with anything that's a change in your body at the top, then overdue check-ups, then unanswered invitations. Book the first item today, using the written plan from chapter 12. Then book one item a week until the list is clear. Doing one a week is manageable, and doing them all at once isn't. If anything on the list worries you a lot, put it first and don't wait for its turn.

The rule, from now on. Once the list is clear, the rule handles new things as they come. You notice something, you think "I should get that looked at", and you hear the reasons arrive. You book it that day. That might mean ringing, filling in the form, asking the pharmacist or using 111. What counts as booking is that by the end of the day the matter is in somebody else's hands and no longer only in yours.

Standing appointments. Some things come round on a schedule, such as the dentist, the optician and any regular review of a long-term condition. Book the next one before you leave the last. Dentists nearly always offer this. Then you don't have to decide afresh each time, and deciding afresh is where the putting off gets in.

Invitations. When a screening letter or kit arrives, open it the day it comes and make the decision described in chapter 10 within the week. Do the kit or book the test, or decide against it and throw the letter away. Don't leave it sitting in the cabinet.

Plans in the form "when this happens, then I'll do that" are well supported. Chapter 12 described one trial. Peter Gollwitzer and Paschal Sheeran later pooled 94 tests of such plans and found they made people a good deal more likely to follow through. Here are three to adapt.

When I hear myself say "it's probably nothing", then I'll say "then it'll be a quick appointment" and book it.

When I find myself checking the thing in the mirror or searching for it online, then I'll close the browser and write my booking sentence.

When a letter from the NHS arrives, then I'll open it before I take my coat off.

Here's what to expect, and I'll be careful, because I can't promise you an outcome. Making the first call will be unpleasant for about four minutes. The relief afterwards is usually immediate and larger than you expected, even though nothing has been examined yet. You'll have done your part, and the matter will be with someone else. For most of the things on your list, the appointment will end in reassurance or in some small piece of treatment. It's possible that one of them will turn out to need more. If so, you'll have found it sooner than you would have, and the next chapter is about that. I can't tell you that everything will be fine. I can say that the period of not knowing will come to an end.