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I will remember that. I can do it later. I will work better after I have just checked my email. Three sentences that cost most of us a great deal.
Each one is true occasionally, which is precisely why it survives. You did remember something once, and you were productive after a snack that one time. Try writing down the version you use most and putting it somewhere you will see it. Recognising it as a familiar line rather than a fresh judgement is usually enough to make you write the thing down.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Quickly, turn to God (Quran 51:50). The instruction is to move now, not after one more thing that will supposedly get you ready.
فَفِرُّوٓاْ إِلَى ٱللَّهِۖ إِنِّي لَكُم مِّنۡهُ نَذِيرࣱ مُّبِينࣱ
[So, say to them, Prophet], ‘Quickly, turn to God- I am sent by Him to give you clear warning
Qur’an 51:50read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A meta-analysis in children and adolescents with ADHD found a measurable preference for the immediate reward over the larger delayed one, treated as distinct from acting without thinking. These sentences all serve the immediate option. The work describes group patterns in young people rather than testing what to do about the thoughts themselves.
Patros CH, Alderson RM, Kasper LJ, Tarle SJ, Lea SE, Hudec KL. (2016). Choice-impulsivity in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): A meta-analytic review.. Clinical psychology review doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
A story that pays off now and then keeps its credibility long after it has stopped being true.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Try giving the two of you names. Monday you keeps leaving messes for Thursday you, and Thursday you is getting fed up about it. Say it out loud and let it be a bit ridiculous.
Go down the list and find the two items that have been sitting there for months. One of them needs doing this week. The other needs deleting, honestly and out loud.
The good news is that most of us only run three or four of these. A short list is something you can genuinely keep an eye on.