Have you ever come home from a trip, dropped your suitcase, and then left it on the floor for days because you were just too tired to deal with unpacking?

It’s one thing if you roll in after midnight — go to bed, by all means! But, for the most part, I have learned that tackling the chore of unpacking is better done sooner rather than later.

You’ll be sorry if you don’t. The longer the task sits there, hanging over your head, waiting and condemning, the worse you fell about it. The effect of all that anticipation and procrastination snowballs. Just like a little snowball packed in your hand can roll around the yard and become the base for a snowman (if you’ve never done this, it might be fun to watch a video online about it to get the full effect), the emotional and mental weight of a reasonable task can become overwhelming.

It’s quicker that way. If you think about the time it takes to unzip the suitcase, put the clean clothes away, dump the laundry in the hamper, and put the devices back where they belong… Let’s be real here; it’s not that long, especially if you pack smart. If you delay and add the time sitting, the time walking by it, the time excusing yourself for not tackling it, the time thinking about how it needs to be done, you can run up a tab — or roll a snowball — a lot bigger than the minutes it would have taken to just do it.

Some of us don’t struggle much with unpacking suitcases. What about unpacking groceries after a major trip to the store? What about putting away the clean laundry? What about loading the dishwasher after baking up a storm? The principle holds true in a bunch of other cases. Think about whether postponing the chore is worth it in the long run.