# Strategic Delay By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2025-01-17 In a world dominated by instantaneous responses, it is often beneficial to the person who waits. Strategic delay is a potentially beneficial approach to many, if not most, stimuli. This is not meant to encourage apathy. Commitment is important. Knowing what one is for, what one is against, and what things one cares nothing about is constructive for deciding where to direct one’s finite attention and energy. However, we are perpetually bombarded with information designed to provoke responses rather than encourage us to think. In such an environment, delaying one’s response is helpful. Much of the information pushed our way does not affect us directly. It amounts to gossip, intrigue, or attempts to score points on a given issue for one side or the other. Spending real energy on “clickbait” depletes energy that could be spent attempting to do something meaningful. If one can exhaust most people by simply presenting information and getting them all riled up over it, there is little chance those people will engage in substantial change. A series of relatively straightforward questions can guide one through a delay process. First, determine if you genuinely care about a given topic. Second, if you do, determine why you care about it. Third, decide if more substantial information is needed to establish credible insight. Fourth, decide on something tangible to do about it. Each one of these steps provides an “off-ramp.” Energy is a precious resource—one benefits from conserving one’s energy for those things that matter. Strategic delay conserves energy. In rare cases, for example, one must act immediately. In most other cases, there is more benefit from delay. Otherwise, one will experience an endless stream of provocations. #### Related Items [[Strategy]] [[Reactionaries]] [[Focus]] [[Delay]] [[Information]] [[Insights]]