Janna Bastow
Now/next/later for Toddlers
Inspired by Janna Bastow episode
Janna Bastow's Now/Next/Later roadmap framework stops you promising exact times when you're in chaos—perfect for toddler transitions.
Janna Bastow figured out the Now/Next/Later roadmap because product managers kept getting trapped making promises about specific dates when everything was completely ambiguous. You commit to what's happening now, signal what's coming next, acknowledge what's later. No dates. Just sequence.
This works perfectly for toddlers asking when they can have chocolate.
You say "after lunch." They say when's lunch. You say "soon." They say when's soon, and now you're in a time negotiation with someone who thinks yesterday was "last morning."
Try Now/Next/Later instead: "Now we're playing, next we're having lunch, later we'll have chocolate." No specific times. Just sequence. Turns out they understand sequence way better than time, probably because sequence doesn't require acknowledging that the future exists as a concrete concept.
Stop promising exact times when you're managing chaos. The roadmap doesn't have dates for a reason.
