This is Optimal Living Daily. How to Do It Tomorrow instead of never by David Cain of

Raptitude.com. I'm your host, narrator, and commentator, Justin Mollick, sharing articles with you

daily to give us those little positive reminders we need. So with that, let's keep remembering

as we optimize your life.

How to do it tomorrow instead of never by davy cane of raptitude.com.

My dad had a clever way of getting me to do the things I typically avoided, like homework or cleaning my room. When he interrupted my Nintendo playing to remind me of

the task, I would explain that while I absolutely intended to do it, I was simply planning to do it

later rather than now. Rather than argue, he would say, that's fine, you don't have to do it now,

all they have to do now is tell me when you will do it.

I hated this tactic.

Giving later a definite time spoiled my true plan, which was to do a never.

I preferred later over now, not because 2 o'clock the next day is a better time than the current time,

but because from where I was sitting, later seems closer to never than now did.

Or in other words, if you squint just right, shirking your responsibilities for another day,

vaguely resembles having no responsibilities, which is what I always wanted.

But my dad's clever question of when dispelled this mirage.

Later is just a different now, and there's no good life

that's free of responsibilities. Unfortunately, I didn't internalize this wisdom. Instead, I saw

his question as one of the shrewd tactics of the opposition in my war against responsibility.

I became a dedicated procrastinator and difficulty avoider for a host of complex psychological

reasons I may never fully untangle.

I get more emails about procrastination than any other topic, even though I only write about

...