Introduction

“Later” doesn’t seem like a threatening word. If something is not urgent, then it can wait. However, when too many deferred tasks keep getting pushed back, they tend to disappear into oblivion.

You put off a follow-up. A document needs updating. An email requesting information sits unattended in the inbox. Nothing seems important enough to interrupt everything else. Yet, these tasks remain unfinished.

Later Is Not a Plan for Deferred Tasks

The issue begins when deferred tasks have no clear date, ownership, or follow-through.

Once a task moves off your immediate radar, something else will probably take its place. Another priority pops up. In time, you’ll have an array of smaller tasks that no one has completely forgotten about, but no one is really doing anything about either.

This creates a new kind of backlog. The work isn’t urgent, but it still consumes mental energy.

Where Tasks Disappear To

Some tasks don’t vanish entirely. Instead, they lurk in your emails, messages, notes, Excel files, and other communications.

You might remember that you have deferred tasks to address. However, remembering them is not the same as getting them done.

This is where Tasktide’s virtual assistant services come in handy. Rather than keeping all those little tasks in your head, you can delegate them to someone who can help manage them.

Give Ownership to “Later”

The objective is not to make all your tasks urgent. The idea is to prevent “later” from becoming “never.”

A Tasktide Virtual Assistant can take ownership of your follow-ups, scheduling, research, emails, and other administrative work that keeps getting put off.

This means these deferred tasks no longer have to pile up on your to-do list.

If your business has too much work sitting in the “later” box, Tasktide can provide virtual assistants to help keep things moving. You can also learn more about outsourcing routine business functions from the U.S. Small Business Administration.