Are you, like me, experiencing the “wait, how is summer over, and how did I get nothing done” blues? If so, you’re probably also in the throes of that panicky impulse to tackle all of the things, right this second.

But there’s a case to be made for taking a deep breath and slowing down.

In a recent article, we outlined some reasons to let go of here-and-now demands and instead cultivate patience and long-term thinking.

Envision your future self

Yes, we all want to demolish our overflowing to-do lists. But focusing too much on short-term goals can often contribute to corner-cutting—or even outright delinquency. Fortunately, research by Loran Nordgren, a professor of management and organizations, has found that thinking of your future self can help curb this tendency.

In one experiment, Nordgren and several colleagues used a letter-writing activity to connect people to their future selves. Half of the participants were given five minutes to write a short letter to themselves in 20 years, and the other half, to themselves in just three months.

After completing the letter, participants were presented with various hypothetical scenarios involving morally questionable behavior, including one about buying a stolen laptop.

As the researchers predicted, those people who wrote to their distant future selves were less likely to say “yes” to the potentially purloined computer (or make other ethically questionable decisions) than those who had written to themselves three months from now.

So if you find yourself moving a little too fast, stop and think of that years-down-the-line you. Your present and future selves will thank you.

Remember, your best may be yet to come

For some of us, the immediacy impulse stems from a perception that brilliant ideas are linked to youth—and we’re certainly not getting any younger.

But that perception isn’t quite accurate, according to Benjamin F. Jones, a professor of strategy. “If you look at age and great achievement in the sciences in general, it doesn’t peak in the twenties,” he says. “It’s more middle-aged.”

In fact, in a 2010 study, Jones found that scientists are having their breakthrough successes later and later in life.

The age at which a researcher achieves “great achievement”—such as a Nobel Prize–worthy discovery—trended up by between five and six years across the twentieth century. The age at which scientists obtain their PhDs has also trended up proportionally.

“As our understanding gets deeper, it takes people longer to get to the knowledge frontier from which they can step forward,” Jones says. In other words, there’s more to know now than ever before—and it’s OK to give yourself time to learn it.

Entrepreneurs benefit from experience, too

Even in Silicon Valley, the (perceived) land of the wunderkind, innocence doesn’t necessarily beat experience.

Jones and several colleagues found that contrary to popular thinking, the best entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged. Among the very fastest-growing new tech companies, the average founder was 45 at the time of founding. Furthermore, a given 50-year-old entrepreneur is nearly twice as likely to have a runaway success as a 30-year-old.

“Experience can bring substantial insight about specific markets and specific technologies, in addition to skills at running things,” Jones says.

So, there’s no rush. Letting your ideas age might actually improve them.

Want more tips on the upsides of patience? You can read the whole article in Kellogg Insight.