Stop Putting Off Fun for After You Finish All Your Work

Harvard Business Review:

How often have you put off doing something fun, like taking a trip or treating yourself, because you felt that you had too much work to do, and you had to get it all done first?

My laboratory has surveyed people from all walks of life about their preferences for ordering work and leisure. Time and time again, we hear the same thing: of course you can’t just leave and have fun before work is done. Work comes first, leisure comes second.

This sounds intuitive. No one wants to spoil a pleasurable experience because they’re worrying about their to-do list or feeling guilty for celebrating prematurely. That’s why, for example, we’ll schedule a trip for the weekend after a big due date as opposed to the weekend before. We save rewards until after we’ve actually earned them, hoping that way we can really enjoy ourselves.

Read the whole story: Harvard Business Review