Think about it: if you never face a problem, it can’t technically defeat you. It’s like playing hide-and-seek with your own responsibilities, and you’re always the hider. That weird noise your car makes? It’s not a problem—it’s a custom rhythm feature. That email from your boss marked “URGENT”? Still unread, still harmless, still living in a blissful digital limbo.
Here’s a surprising fact: psychologists call this “avoidance coping.” But I call it “strategic denial,” and it has a 100% success rate at keeping today’s problems out of today’s calendar. In a 2026 study, researchers found that people who actively avoided thinking about a stressful event felt less anxious in the short term. Really! You’re not lazy—you’re just optimizing your emotional stock portfolio for immediate gains.
The Fine Art of “Fix It Later” (A Masterclass)
Let’s break down the technique. Step one: identify the problem. Step two: immediately look away. Step three: mutter something like, “That’s a future-me problem.” Future-me is a saint, by the way. Future-me never complains, never gets tired, and apparently runs on infinite coffee and desperation. Current-me just takes a nap.
I once had a leaky faucet that dripped for eight months. By month four, I started thinking of it as a tiny indoor fountain. By month six, I named it Gerald. Gerald and I had a routine: he dripped, I ignored him, and we both pretended he was a decorative water feature. Did I fix it? No. Did I eventually move out? Also no. But Gerald and I reached a beautiful, wet understanding.
