On your plate

When you have a lot "on your plate," you have a lot of responsibilities or things to do.

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On your plate

Do you have a lot on your plate? I’m not talking about dinnertime—I’m talking more generally. When you have a lot on your plate, you have a lot of responsibilities, a lot of things to do. Can you take on a new project? Ah, I’m sorry, I have a lot on my plate at the moment. I don’t think I can. That means you have a lot of responsibilities. I have a lot on my plate. That’s what you say when you have a lot to do.

What can you do if someone in your life has a lot on their plate? How about this: you can take something off their plate. Let’s say you volunteer at your kids’ school. You notice that one of the other parents has said “yes” to a lot of projects and is starting to get overwhelmed. You might offer to take something off his or her plate. You might say, “Hey, Aline, I notice you’re planning a fund-raiser and volunteering after school three days a week. Can I take something off your plate?”

That’s a polite and empathetic way of offering to do something without seeming threatening. You don’t want to steal a job or a responsibility from that other person. It’s not an insult. If you say, “Can I take something off your plate?” what you’re really saying is, “It looks like you have a lot going on. I’d like to offer to reduce the number of things you have to do.”

It works the opposite way, too. Sometimes it’s hard at work, when someone just starts—you need to find something for him or her to do. Here’s something you might say: “I’m a little worried about Nelson. He’s got nothing on his plate and I’m worried he might be bored.” He’s got nothing on his plate; he doesn’t have anything to do.

Do you remember how I used this phrase earlier? If you’ve got an unpleasant task that you’ve been putting off, delaying, then try imagining how good you’ll feel later, when it’s off your plate. So often, the stress associated with unpleasant tasks and chores isn’t the stress of doing it—it’s the stress of imagining how bad it’s going to be in the future. Half the time, actually doing something isn’t nearly as bad as you thought it would be. One way to combat these stressful feelings is to imagine how good you’ll feel when the job is done. Imagine yourself without this extra thing to do. Imagine how nice it will be when it’s off your plate.

Quote of the week

I’m going to give you a quote, which is not the quote of the week. But in order to understand the quote of the week, you need to know this quote first—otherwise the quote I’ve chosen isn’t going to be funny.

Benjamin Franklin—one of the founding fathers of America—is a rich source of quotes. Here’s a famous one: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” We always hear that; that’s drilled into us from a young age. Mark Twain—a nineteenth-century author—was often bothered by these industrious quotes from Benjamin Franklin, urging us from his grave to be more productive and better people. So Mark Twain decided he would write his own quote about procrastination, based on Benjamin Franklin’s original. Here’s the Mark Twain version: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well.” That is the quote I’ve chosen—the story of my life sometimes. “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow just as well,” by the American author Mark Twain.

See you next time!

That’s all for today’s lesson. Coming up on Thursday: how will the world of work change after COVID-19? We’ll indulge in a bit of speculation about the future in Thursday’s lesson. How the world of work will change in the future as a result of COVID-19. Come join us for that.

And remember, if you’d like to get the inside track on the brand-new PlainEnglish.com and the chance to vote for new features, then visit us at PlainEnglish.com/new.

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Story: Solutions to procrastination