Some Problems Go Away
In praise of strategic passivity
The central productivity challenge of my adolescence was procrastination; I know I’m not alone in this. Nor am I alone, I know, in the stress and sleepless nights this habit cost me.
In the end, I’ve gotten things (mostly) under control by the usual means: to-do lists, calendars, and self-flagellation. But the difficulty of learning this lesson—and the social rewards one frequently receives for delivering ahead of schedule—have long blinded me to another, subtler productivity principle: It’s often inefficient to tackle problems the moment they arise.
The reasons delaying action can be useful are myriad and varied. Sometimes plans or priorities change. Sometimes you’ll be faster if you wait for more information. Sometimes the person who emailed you will get impatient and just figure it out themselves. Regardless of the underlying mechanism, you can unlock a lot of time simply by not solving problems that will fix themselves, or which will be easier to solve in the future.
Reminders and follow-ups are a broad class of tasks where this principle is true. Let’s say, for example, that you’re waiting to hear back from a colleague about whether they are free at such-and-such a time, or whether they’ve finished writing up a such-and-such a report. It may well be that they’ve forgotten, and you’ll need to craft a polite yet firm message to get what you want. But if, in fact, they have not forgotten—if they’re just very busy or taking their sweet time—passivity will save you at the very least an email and the mild discomfort of nagging. These little costs add up. (Of course, passivity is not always an option; when a request is urgent or the consequences of failure are high, follow-up is appropriate.)
The real trick here is being able to identify which problems plausibly are “self-resolving” or gain efficiency by delay. Filing your taxes? Dream on. Buying yourself new socks or sweaters right before the holidays? Maybe wait and see if that one doesn’t fix itself…Naturally, these decisions are highly context-dependent, and usually involve tradeoffs or judgment calls.
It’s also important to note: Problems that are “self-resolving” from your perspective may really just be placing the burden of a solution on someone else. I once heard a story about someone who refused to do anything for anyone unless they asked him twice. I have no doubt this policy freed up staggering amounts of time for the individual in question; I also have no doubt it had staggering reputational costs.
When it’s unclear whether a problem is self-resolving or not, I find it very helpful to add it to a list for future review. I call this list a “parking lot,” and unlike my daily to-dos, it has no specific deadlines associated with it. Once a month, I then revisit this parking lot to calendar the tasks that remain relevant and delete those that do not (or defer those about which I’m unsure). I recommend this system highly.
A final, crucial caveat: Most problems do NOT go away. (Corollary: Under NO circumstances should this post be shared with someone whose frontal lobes are not fully developed.) For those tasks which must and will get done in a definite amount of time, “strategic passivity” is little more than denial or magical thinking—by all means: Wash those dishes! Book that flight! Get that mole examined!
But if, like me, you’ve honed some hard-won tools to combat procrastination, it’s worth consideration: When, if ever, do you stay your sharpened blade?