Tomorrow Test
Judge distant invitations as if the commitment were happening tomorrow
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 99%
The Tomorrow Test corrects the false sense that a distant calendar is less constrained than the present one. When an invitation arrives for months or a year from now, imagine that the same commitment is happening tomorrow. Ask whether you would still want to do it. If the answer becomes no merely because the obligation feels immediate, use that answer for the real invitation. Luis developed the rule because he is a people pleaser and used to accept future speaking engagements while assuming he would somehow be less busy later. The mechanism removes temporal distance from the decision, making the inconvenience and opportunity cost emotionally visible before the commitment enters the calendar.
Origin
Luis von Ahn described the framing trick he uses to decline distant invitations during The Tim Ferriss Show.
Core principles
- 01Treat future time as real time
- 02Remove optimism about future availability
- 03Use present willingness to test a distant commitment
- 04Decline when changing only the date changes the answer
How to run it
- 1
Specify the obligation
Translate the invitation into the actual travel, preparation, attendance, and follow-up it requires. Avoid judging only the appealing label.
Pro tip Include the full calendar footprint, not just stage or meeting time.
Watch out A vague commitment is easy to romanticize.
- 2
Move it to tomorrow
Imagine every part of the obligation is scheduled for tomorrow. Hold the substance constant and change only its distance from today.
Pro tip Picture the commitment alongside your real current workload.
Watch out Do not add fictional emergencies that are unrelated to the decision.
- 3
Read the honest answer
Ask whether you would genuinely choose to do it tomorrow. Treat reluctance as evidence rather than something future you will solve.
Pro tip Distinguish nervousness about a valuable opportunity from simple lack of desire.
Watch out People pleasing can disguise an immediate no as politeness.
- 4
Commit consistently
Use the tomorrow answer when replying to the distant invitation. Accept only when the later date changes something material.
Pro tip Reply before calendar distance makes the commitment abstract again.
Watch out Do not use future availability as a reason unless you have concrete evidence it will exist.
In the wild
Luis used to accept invitations to give talks the following year because he assumed he would not be as busy then. By asking whether he would want to give the same talk tomorrow, he found that the answer was almost always no.
→ The reframing helped him decline more distant commitments before they crowded his future calendar.
Common mistakes
Assuming future slack
A distant date feels empty because its obligations are not visible yet. Do not treat that feeling as evidence of real capacity.
Ignoring material date differences
The test isolates calendar distance, but some opportunities genuinely improve with preparation or timing. Account for those concrete differences.
Is it for you?
Best for
People pleasers who routinely accept talks, events, meetings, or favors scheduled months ahead.
Not ideal for
Commitments whose value genuinely depends on future preparation, changed circumstances, or a unique later date.
From the transcript
“what if it was tomorrow would you want to do this or not”
“almost invariably the answer is no i definitely don't want to do this tomorrow and then you should answer based on that”
From the episode
#607: Luis von Ahn, Co-Founder and CEO of Duolingo — How to Be (Truly) Mission-Driven, Monetization Experiments, 10x Growth, Org Chart Iterations for Impacting Metrics, The Intricate Path to an IPO, Best Hiring Practices, Catching Exam Cheaters, The Allure of Toto Toilets, The Future of Duolingo, and How to Stand Out in Your Career