For fun: what does "I'll do it later today" mean?

[SKL]

Trying to do a fun poll, not sure I'm doing this right.

Context:  I often give "later today" as an ETA for work reports.  When I say it, I'm thinking "by 11:59 in your time zone."  But often, it ends up going out later than that.  Then my goal is that it's in the client's inbox when they look in the morning.

This is totally rational, right?  St. Peter won't get on me for this?

(Lighthearted thoughts preferred.)

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

In a work environment , by the end of the business day. But I have never worked in a business that went all hours. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Jean in Newcastle
Typo

[fraidycat]

Totally rational. I'm a night owl. Later today means sometime before I go to bed and before you wake up. That could be 3 a.m.

[wintermom]

I try to use the term, "by the end of the work day," which is within the time zone of the people I'm communicating with. "Later today" is very vague, and could mean all of the choices in the poll, as well as two days from the day mentioned. If you were talking to me and said later today, I'd expect it within the week and not necessarily before, potentially within a few weeks even. 

ETA: I think my response is based partically on who is saying "later today" and whether they've followed through with actually finishing tasks later that day. Too often the people around me (work and home) forget about the task and it ends up getting completed much later. I'm also guilty of doing this, especially if something else comes up and distracts me from the task. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by wintermom

[SKL]

I guess it also depends on what day it is.  If it's Thursday, maybe they are thinking "by my close of business," but if it's Saturday/Sunday, I hope they aren't expecting it by 5.

TBH the folks I say this to are used to my tendencies.  I've even told some of my clients "later today ... meaning before start of business tomorrow."

[Arcadia]

With friends, they know it means before I sleep which could range from 11pm to 2am. 

When I was working, it mean that I have something urgent to attend to and that their task would be attended to after taking care of urgent customer needs. I rarely had to use later today with my boss because he would tell me when he need a task done, whether it’s 1am (financial reports) or 8am. I am much more likely to use “later” with anyone than “later today”

My last job involves multiple time zones as I was working with colleagues in US, London, Paris, ANZ, and Asia. So “later today” is rather confusing for everyone. We went by hours or business days instead. 

[KidsHappen]

No longer working so honestly these days it means I intend to get to it as soon as I am able. If it is something that has to be done today I will let the other person know if I really think I can accomplish that so they can make other plans if necessary. 

[easypeasy]

If it's a household chore I've asked my adult-child-who-lives-at-home-to-save-$-to-buy-a-house to do and have been told, "I'll do it later today," that means exactly 0.9 seconds before my head is about to explode with frustration and impatience. 😇 I've learned to give specific times - otherwise, they will do the chore 5 minutes before they head off to bed.

If it were *me,* I could mean anything. If it was a household task, I'd just do it right away because otherwise I will absolutely forget about it. If it were a 9-5 job thing, it would mean before 4:30 for me. If it were my own, personal at-home business, it would mean before 11:59 pm. 😄

[Ginevra]

For work, if I said this, I would mean before close of business today. I would sincerely mean, “I will make every effort to get turnaround on this before I leave work today.” 
 

However I don’t think I use this much at work because it’s too vague and I don’t want to be boxed in. I would probably say “before close of business today” only if the requester really needed placating and I really did think I can push it to the top of the pile. I always try to avoid over promise/under deliver. 

[Kidlit]

In my world, maybe never (ha ha), but I usually only say things like this to myself about things I want or need to do, like chores I dread. 
 

But I said by a normal adult's bedtime because that's what I think it actually means. 🤣

Edited June 4, 2023 by Kidlit

[Soror]

Around the house id expect by bedtime at work id expect by the end of the typical business day. I answered by bedtime because I was thinking of around the house.

[Jaybee]

I voted by 5pm, but that was before I really looked at the others, so it's between that and the normal bedtime. When I saw the topic, I was thinking about the question from a different angle. When I say that, it usually means please don't expect me to stop what I am doing and jump up to do it right now. I'll get to it in my own time and my own way, so don't bug me about it. 😬 In a work environment, I am putting it on my list of things to get done today, and I'll work it in as soon as I can.

[Elizabeth86]

If coming from my dh it might mean 6 months from now. 😂

[happypamama]

I don't have an actual job outside the home, but for my volunteer gig, that typically means, I will get to it sometime after 3 pm, when we are done with our school day, and when the littles are either playing happily or the other parent is around to be the go to.  If time permits, I might get it between 3 and making dinner, or I might do it after dinner, but very often, it means sometime between 10 pm and 2 am, after the littles are settled.  None of what I do is especially urgent, though, and I am not required to do anything.

For something my husband or kids need, it will depend on how urgent it is and whether it needs to be done during business hours.  I generally prefer to manage things after I am done with the school day, but sometimes things are more urgent.

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by happypamama

[Halftime Hope]

10 hours ago, SKL said:

Trying to do a fun poll, not sure I'm doing this right.

Context:  I often give "later today" as an ETA for work reports.  When I say it, I'm thinking "by 11:59 in your time zone."  But often, it ends up going out later than that.  Then my goal is that it's in the client's inbox when they look in the morning.

This is totally rational, right?  St. Peter won't get on me for this?

(Lighthearted thoughts preferred.)

 

In a business context, I'd expect "later today" to mean by close of business hours, i.e. 5:00.  If the business context is international, people in the offices I've worked in generally give time zone specifications in their conversation.

As a rule of thumb, I would expect this to change if someone was working a shift, so their "today" would end when they went home.

[Halftime Hope]

10 hours ago, SKL said:

Trying to do a fun poll, not sure I'm doing this right.

Context:  I often give "later today" as an ETA for work reports.  When I say it, I'm thinking "by 11:59 in your time zone."  But often, it ends up going out later than that.  Then my goal is that it's in the client's inbox when they look in the morning.

This is totally rational, right?  St. Peter won't get on me for this?

(Lighthearted thoughts preferred.)

 

"I'll have it to you by morning." ??

[Lady Florida.]

Other - It depends on the situation/context. If it involves a business or medical request it means by 5pm or the normal end of the work day. If it's something I said I'd do for a friend (eg, send them a recipe) it means by midnight, which happens to be my normal bedtime.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Lady Florida.

[LaughingCat]

I would consider saying "I'll do it later today" to mean before I go to bed that night -- which may or may not be at what someone else might consider a normal adult's bedtime. 

Work-wise I would have considered it to mean by the end of my working day, i.e. before I left the office (or closed the computer), not specifically by 5pm or any other specific time.

OTOH -- if someone is telling me what time they need something done by -- that is most often a 5pm (stereotypical end of working day) or 12am(midnight) deadline (schools especially) -- usually that tends to be more for timestamp or report generating reasons though.

Edited June 4, 2023 by LaughingCat
realized I had put pm (noon) when I meant am(midnight)

[SKL]

1 hour ago, Halftime Hope said:

"I'll have it to you by morning." ??

See that makes sense, but it's always my intention to get it out by 11:59pm ... and usually it's already later than it should be ... and maybe part of it is me trying to impose an external deadline so I'll actually get to it before I receive another nastygram.

Time management isn't my forte.  😛

[Garga]

If some certain someones in my household, who shall remain unnamed, say that they’ll do it “later today” it means they will immediately forget the task until I bring it up again. At which point, we start the process over again.

It’s a bit of a sore spot for me. 

In a work context, if someone told me that they’d do it later today, I’d expect to see it done at the end of that work day. If they mean, “I’ll do it so that you see it in your email first thing tomorrow,” then I’d expect them to say, “I’ll get it done by tomorrow.”

 

[regentrude]

In a work context, I take "later today" to mean by close of business, ie 5pm. Otherwise, they should say "by tomorrow " if I'm only seeing the result the next morning - because then I'll know that I don't need to bother checking. I would prefer a more precise answer so I know what to expect. 

In a private context, it means hopefully sometime before midnight.

Edited June 4, 2023 by regentrude

[Moonhawk]

"Later today" can have multiple meanings in a business context:

To my boss? --> As soon as I'm done putting out all of these other fires you've put on my desk

To my counterpart? --> As soon as I'm reasonably sure I can do it without causing more fires

To a director? (ie someone important but I'm not responsible for) --> by the end of their workday

To a random employee? --> by the end of my workday, which is probably after they've left, so whenever I feel like it before they start the next day

To Ronda in accounting, who seems to forget I am not her underling nor do I even work in that department so I really have no idea why she keeps asking me for things? --> whatever, Ronda.