Is the uphill road the one more taken? How task complexity prompts action on non-pressing tasks

•Task complexity serves as a heuristic to initiate action on important tasks. (79 characters with spaces).•Novices are more likely to use task complexity as a cue of urgency to take action. (85 characters with spaces).•Perceptions of urgency increase task initiation amongst novices (versus experts). (84 characters with spaces).•Experts rely less on peripheral cues, like task complexity, as signals of urgency. (84 characters with spaces).