It can be done todayEveryday life

unbry

It can be done today

A short book about letting small tasks pile up until they turn into things you dread

28 chapters12,308 wordsAbout 56 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit, and the habit is made of very small things. A form that needs a…2 min
1Eleven tabs and a brown envelopeThere's a brown envelope on the side. It's been there since Tuesday. It's from the council, or the DVLA, or the school, and it needs something, and you've…2 min
2Why later seems rightBefore I argue with later, I want to be fair to it, because every item in the heap got there by a decision that seemed sensible at the time. It's small…2 min
3"I'll do it when I've got a proper chunk of time"Start with the chunk, because it's the belief the whole heap rests on. Saturday morning, coffee, the lot in one go. Two problems with it. The first is…2 min
4"It'll take ages"The item on the side has a size in your head, and the size is why it's still there. The insurance is an afternoon. The form is a saga. The dentist…2 min
5"It's boring"Here's the objection with the most truth in it. The form is boring. Filling it in is a dull four minutes, and your evening is yours, and you'd rather not.…2 min
6"I don't know where to start with it"Some items aren't boring so much as opaque. You don't know what the form wants. You don't know which login. You don't know whether the insurance thing…2 min
7"It's not urgent"The renewal isn't until the twentieth. The trip is after half term. Nobody's chasing. There's no reason to do it now. Steel's review put deadline distance…2 min
8"I'm waiting on someone else"Some items really are stuck. You've asked the school and they haven't replied. The insurer needs a document from the garage. You can't do the form until…2 min
9"I need to be in the right mood"The form done tired is a form with a mistake in it. Better to wait until you're fresh, and capable, and in the mood for it. Sirois and Pychyl's point from…2 min
10"I've got more important things to do"You're not putting the form off out of idleness. You've got a job, and children, and a friend who needs ringing, and a form is a form. It goes after the…2 min
11"I'll forget anyway"There's a resigned version of the heap. You'd do things when they arrived but you don't remember them, and by the time you do it's the fourth reminder…2 min
12"It's just admin"Here's the belief that lets the heap grow without alarm. It's just admin. Nobody's life was ruined by a late form. Look at what the items actually are…2 min
13"I work better under pressure"Some readers will say the heap is a method. Nothing gets done until the fourth reminder, but then it does get done, fast and focused, and they're not sure…2 min
14"Once I start I'll be there all night"There's a fear that goes the other way from the last one. If you open the heap, you'll be in it for hours. One item leads to another, the insurance needs…2 min
15"I'm bad at admin"At some point the heap stops being a thing you have and becomes a thing you are. You're bad at admin. Some people are organised and you're not, and the…2 min
16"If I open it I'll have to deal with it"The brown envelope has stayed shut since Tuesday for a reason, and the reason is that a shut envelope is a thing that hasn't happened yet. Open it and it…2 min
17"I'll feel guilty either way"By now the heap has a feeling attached, and it isn't boredom. It's guilt. You feel guilty when you see the envelope and guilty when you don't do it and…2 min
18What the heap costs youI've argued the mechanism. This chapter is the bill, and it's the one you've never seen in one place, because the heap sends it in instalments. The money.…2 min
19What it does to the itemThere's a cost that lands on the item itself, and it's the one I'd most like you to see, because it's the mechanism of the whole book in one place. An…2 min
20Do it todayThe next three chapters are the method. This one is the rule for the moment of arrival, and it's the one that stops the heap forming in the first place.…2 min
21The sweepThe ten-minute test catches most items. This is for the rest, and it's the part that makes the list trustworthy enough that your memory can let go.…2 min
22Clear the heap onceThe rule stops the heap growing and the sweep works it down. But you've got a heap now, and this chapter is the one hour that deals with it, once. One…2 min
23The decisionYou've got the argument and the method. What's left is to decide, and you can do it in one sentence. If it takes under ten minutes, do it when it arrives.…2 min
24ADHD, the avalanche, other people's admin, the big one, and when it's more than adminThe rule holds for every ping. Some situations need their own paragraph. ADHD. If organising time and finishing tasks has always been hard, since…3 min
25When the heap came backIt'll happen. A busy fortnight, a couple of missed sweeps, a week of "I'll do it tonight", and there's an envelope on the side again and seven tabs and…2 min
26The brown envelope, openedThere's a brown envelope on the mat, some months on. You pick it up on the way in, with the bag on your shoulder, and open it at the door. It's from the…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information about an everyday habit. It isn't medical or financial advice, and it's no substitute for a GP or a debt adviser who…4 min