Before postponing a task, check its actual deadline and what a delay would change. Then choose when or where you will find it again, with the information you need to continue. You do not have to justify every postponement. If someone is waiting for your work, though, moving it on your list does not tell them on your behalf.

Decide what can wait

A task may need moving because a meeting has been added, a document is missing or you have less energy. Naming what changed can help you decide what to do next. It does not need to become a condition you must meet before you are allowed to postpone anything.

Postponing cannot guarantee that guilt will go away either. The practical outcome is simpler: you know where the task is kept and what you have decided to do with it.

Check the consequences before moving it

Ask who or what depends on this task. A booking that expires tonight, a document a colleague is waiting for and a personal idea for next month call for different decisions.

If waiting has consequences, check what can be finished, delegated or renegotiated. If the task depends on an answer, note that dependency. That avoids putting it back on each morning's list when you still cannot move it forward.

Keep what you will need to continue

These details may be useful:

  • The work left. “Check the name on the certificate”, rather than “application”.
  • What is blocking it. “Waiting for confirmation from the office.”
  • When to look again. A date if you need one, or a Later list you will check.

You do not need all three for every task. A simple call might just move to tomorrow. An interrupted application may need a link to the document and a note of the last change you made.

If the same task keeps coming back

If you have moved it several times, look at what has stayed the same. Is information missing? Is the task too broad? Do you still want to do it? Is the deadline realistic?

You could ask for an answer, find a smaller action, renegotiate the expected result or remove work that is no longer needed. Rescheduling it again is not always the most useful next action.

Move an essential in Molleva

In Molleva, you can move an essential to tomorrow, this week or later. It leaves today's selection and remains available in Later. Moving it is free and does not require a reason.

Low energy mode simplifies the layout, and you can choose fewer essentials. Neither changes an external deadline: an agreement with someone still needs confirming with them.

See the options for moving a task.

Questions before postponing

Is postponing always procrastination?

No. Waiting for a document or prioritising an urgent request can be good reasons to move an action. But calling it “intentional postponement” does not establish that it is the right decision either. Check the consequences and what will make returning possible.

Do I always need to choose a date?

No. An idea without a deadline can stay in Later. If an action has a time limit, a dependency or needs reviewing at a particular point, keep that reference. An arbitrary date will not make the work possible.

Do I have to give a reason in Molleva?

No. You can move a task without entering one. Keep any detail that will help you return to it; that preserves context rather than proving that postponing was acceptable.

Before closing the list

Check that the task will be where you expect to find it. If someone is waiting for a reply, let them know. You can return to the work at the time you chose.