Yesterday I shared a life lesson I learned when I started working about doing things now, and not procrastinating. Great, do it now then.

How long will it take to get something done? 5 minutes? Great, do it now then.

But doing things later is something we should also consider doing once in a while.

When dealing with something we shouldn’t be doing, “maybe doing it later then” is the best advice.

When dealing with bad behaviour, instead of saying “I shouldn’t be doing this” rather say “maybe I will do later then.”

Willpower researchers have found that substituting “no” with “later” when dealing with temptations can successfully resolve the tension in our head.

“I shouldn’t be smoking” is not stronger than “Maybe I will do it later.”

The period between now and later will encourage you to rethink the action and maybe even change you impending action.

When later comes, apply the principle again, “Maybe I will smoke later.”

The idea is to keep rolling “later” to “later” and more “later” until the temptation dies out.

Later is more than a word, it is an idea whose judicious use can change our life.

“Great, do it now then” is important when it comes to things we should be doing.

“Maybe do it later then” is important when it comes to things we should not be entertaining.

I have experienced many instances where when I postpone something to later, often I end up forgetting about it.

The more you postpone doing a bad thing [smoking, over-eating, gossip, sit and watch TV the whole day, spending excessive time on social media], the more time you give your conscious a chance to get you to rethink your action or

The more you postpone doing a bad thing, you might even forget about it later.

“You want to buy those shoes you didn’t budget on credit?” Maybe later.

Do you want a doughnut? Maybe later.

“Later” can thus be the difference between delaying gratification and succumbing to temptations.

Use it wisely, we must.