Putting things off

What's in the lesson

1. 1Warm-up
2. 2In this lesson
3. 3Guess the words (1)Vocabulary exercise
4. 4Guess the words (2)Vocabulary exercise
5. 5Check the wordsVocabulary
6. 6Reading: why we put things offReading
7. 7Check your understandingReading comprehension
8. 8Listen: Jake's planListening comprehension
9. 9Use the new wordsVocabulary exercise
10. 10When will it happen?Grammar exercise
11. 11The future perfectGrammar rule
12. 12The moving planGrammar exercise
13. 13Say it naturallySpeaking practice
14. 14Your planSpeaking practice
15. 15Let's discussDiscussion
16. 16Wrap-up

Homework

1. 1Homework: closest meaningVocabulary exercise
2. 2Homework: your sentencesVocabulary exercise
3. 3Homework: the future perfectGrammar exercise
4. 4Homework: a message to your accountability partnerDiscussion

Words

• procrastinate/prəˈkræstɪneɪt/

  to keep delaying something that you should do, often for no good reason

• put off/ˌpʊt ˈɔːf/

  to delay doing something until later (put it off, put off doing)

• deadline/ˈdedlaɪn/

  the time or day by which you have to finish something

• daunting/ˈdɔːntɪŋ/

  making you feel worried or less confident because it seems difficult

• tackle/ˈtækl/

  to start dealing with a difficult job or problem

• prioritize/praɪˈɔːrətaɪz/

  to decide which things are most important and do them first

• perfectionist/pərˈfekʃənɪst/

  a person who wants everything to be perfect and is not happy with less

• under pressure/ˌʌndər ˈpreʃər/

  stressed because you have too much to do, or too little time

• productive/prəˈdʌktɪv/

  getting a lot of useful work done

• manageable/ˈmænɪdʒəbl/

  not too big or too difficult to deal with

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

Let's talk about getting things done.

1. What is the last thing you did at the very last minute? How did it go?
2. What do you do when you are avoiding something? Clean the house? Check your phone?
3. Do you know anyone who never seems to put anything off? How do they do it?

Grammar rule

The future perfect

will have + past participle

We use the future perfect for an action that will be finished before a time in the future:

• By the end of the year, the bridge will have opened. (It will open at some time before then.)
• Will they have repaired the road by June? No, they won't have repaired it by then.

by and by the time

by + a time = not later than: by Friday, by 2030, by then · by the time + the present simple: By the time the guests arrive, we'll have cooked everything. (not by the time the guests will arrive)

by is not until: I'll have finished by Friday (at some time before Friday). I'll be busy until Friday (all the time up to Friday).

In speech, "I'll have" sounds like "I'll-uv".