A bill paid promptly lets someone else stop spending attention on your part of an agreement.

Every unfinished obligation lives in somebody’s head, usually not yours. While an invoice sits unpaid, another person is checking, remembering, deciding whether to chase you and how to word it, and all of that is work you handed over without meaning to. Paying on time is less about money than about giving that attention back. The same holds for any small thing you owe.

Look at what is currently open in your name: an unanswered request, a form not returned, a sum outstanding. Clear the one that has been sitting longest, even if the amount is trivial. The relief you create is usually larger than the effort it takes.