Sometime Isn’t a Slot in Your Schedule

• “I can’t do that right now. I’ll get to IT sometime.”
• “I haven’t done IT yet, but I’ll get to IT sometime.”

Come on, I know you’ve said it once or twice!

Well, guess what? “Sometime” can’t be scheduled!

You’ll never have a notification from an electronic calendar that says, “It’s sometime.” Your paper calendar doesn’t have an hour marked “sometime.”

Here’s the issue: even with the best of intentions, IT probably won’t happen unless you purposely schedule IT.

For that moment-in-time, right after you’ve said, “I’ll get to IT sometime” you have every intention of completing the task. However, other activities occur and you may either keep postponing IT or you completely forget about IT.

Then what happens?

• Guilt since it’s not finished.
• Overwhelm because it’s “one more thing” on your list.
• Anxiety due to not knowing when or how it will be completed.
• Frustration that you committed to it or that someone volunteered you for it.
• Sleeplessness in view of all of the above?

What can you do about tasks that you plan to get to “sometime”?

First, designate priority. How important is IT? What is the deadline?

If it truly is urgent and it has a definite deadline, then you need to define when and how it will be accomplished.

Second, decide if IT can be delegated. Many tasks can be delegated. Similarly, there are projects in which some of the tasks can be delegated. I know you may not want to give IT up, but take a moment to consider the following:

• Delegate and have IT finished or drop the ball?
• The money factor: if you make more per hour than you’d need to pay someone, then your better off delegating.

Third, determine if IT can be deleted. The hard truth is that you will never complete everything you need and want to do. If you’ve designated priority, then by definition, some of the least important tasks can be deleted.

The next time you hear yourself saying, “I’m sure I’ll get to IT sometime” take a moment to prioritize, delegate, or delete.

The same strategies work for its closely related cousin “I’ll do it later.”

Do you have certain types of tasks that tend to fall into the “sometime” or “do it later” category? Comment below.