proverb · Words worth keeping
Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The instruction discourages postponing until tomorrow what can be done today. It gives timely action priority over unnecessary delay.
What the words are saying
Can refers to possibility, but a responsible application also considers priority and available capacity. The phrase should not demand doing every feasible task immediately or denying rest. A useful reading identifies a meaningful next action rather than turning the whole future into today’s workload.
Everyday example
Someone completes a small urgent task now and schedules less pressing work realistically.
When to use it
Use it to discuss unnecessary delay alongside priorities and capacity.
What it does not mean
Possible tasks need not all be done immediately, and rest can be necessary.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 209; PDF page 34
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.