The Clock

The thing you keep postponing. Now, or later?

650 people have stood exactly here. 70 of them are still inside it — their capsules have not opened yet. The rest already know how it went.

58%would decide the same way again

13 mowhere the two paths cross

22 momedian time since deciding

The answer changes depending on when you ask

This is the finding that matters, and it is the reason a snapshot of opinion is misleading. Shortly after the decision, the people who put it off are happier. Years later, the people who did it now are — and by a wider margin.

Time since deciding	Did it now	Put it off
6 months	52% would do it again	64% would do it again
12 months	57% would do it again	58% would do it again
24 months	61% would do it again	42% would do it again
36 months	75% would do it again	32% would do it again
48 months	82% would do it again	44% would do it again

Regret about doing it now fades. Regret about putting it off accrues.

Where each path ended up

They chose	Would again	Mixed	Would not	Total
Did it now	206	49	59	314
Put it off	133	60	73	266

What they said once they knew

Written after the capsule opened — not while deciding.

“Too early, definitely. Also the only version of it that ever actually happened.”
Did it now · 66 months on

“I waited well. I also can't prove that.”
Put it off · 65 months on

“I called it patience for four years. It was fear with better manners.”
Put it off · 65 months on

Common questions

What usually happens to people who did it now?

In this archive, 80% of people who did it now said they would do it again when asked around four years later. At six months it was 52%. Regret about doing it now tends to fade as time passes.

Is it better to doing it now or putting it off?

Neither, universally — and the honest answer changes with time. Early on, put it off looks better (64% against 52% at six months). Later it reverses (80% against 39% at four years). The two lines cross at about 13 months.

How is this measured?

Every capsule records a decision and a confidence level before the outcome is known, then the person is asked afterwards whether they would decide the same way again. The percentages are Gaussian-smoothed over 580 answered capsules. Where too few sit under the kernel, no figure is shown rather than a noisy one.

Is this advice?

No. It is a record of what happened to other people, which is a different and more useful thing. Nobody here knows your situation.

You are about to decide something

Write down the real reason and how sure you are, before you know how it goes. In 30, 90 or 365 days it opens and asks you one question — and you find out whether your judgement was worth anything.

Seal a capsule