Future Bystander Effect

on-replacing-proscriptions-with-prescriptions

Something I heard recently in conversation:

If you add a task to your todo list without scheduling a specific time for it, you are subjecting your future selves to the bystander effect.

I thought it was pretty clever, a novel formulation of this facet of procrastination. But I just realized that the aphorism has a corollary:

If you add a task to your todo list without scheduling a specific time for it, you are giving your your future selves practice dealing with the bystander effect.

Of course, it doesn't always work that well in practice, but it's worth considering if you're trying to get better at doing things without putting them off.