Have you ever made a list and then thought, “well I will do that later”, so when ‘later’ comes and it’s still not done, you really have no excuse. You knew it needed to be done and yet, here you are at the deadline with nothing. Not only that but your mind is so stressed out about not having met the goal, that you can’t figure out how to actually start the project or task you need to complete.
Many of us find ourselves in that boat. We often use the quote, ‘why do it today when I can put it off until tomorrow.’ Well, I can think of a couple of reasons: a.) tomorrow may never come (again another over-used but very true statement) and b.) when it does come and you still haven’t gotten yourself together you have exasperated the situation by adding your own stress on top of it. Nothing like being stressed out and freaking out that you haven’t got your act together. Add to that those who are asking for the work, project, thing, that you were supposed to do and have nothing to show for it.
I have the art of procrastination down to a science. So, I know of which I speak. It isn’t that I don’t want to do something (well it is, that I don’t want to do it ‘right’ then) it is more that I can do it ‘tomorrow’ or I ‘have a week’. So, here I sit in front of a blank screen thinking okay, now “go”. Fortunately, I am not this way in everything. I am also pretty good at getting myself to do something even when I really don’t feel to (laundry, for example). When I know it needs to be done.
Now, you can do it last minute and get it done. Some of us work really well under the pressure of a deadline. (Two hours and counting….) and can pull ourselves together, focus and get it done. It may not be ‘perfect’ but it will be ‘acceptable’. Which is enough to get us by.
There are definite pros to doing something early and having it ready and waiting. Once it is done, you can forget it. It won’t be on your brain, eating away at your thoughts, while you are doing something else; such as spending time with friends and family. A time when your focus should be on them and not on your to-do list(s).
Also, if you do it right and early the first time, you won’t have to go back and do it again. (Time management for the win!) It gives you the opportunity to be more efficient and stress-free. We don’t need to worry about deadlines when we have not only met them but beat them by quite a stretch.
Of course, there may be times when you have a huge project that will take multiple days in order to get done. While you can focus all your time and energy into completing a huge job, there are benefits to taking much-needed breaks during these major undertakings. Which gives your mind time to rest and refocus. Sometimes these ‘down times’ actually present us with a different outlook or view of how to accomplish something more efficiently, even while in the midst of doing it. (Taking 15 lines of code down to 4.)
Over-focusing on things can lead to the same type of issues that happen when procrastinating. Life is a balancing act, not just work vs. personal life, but also when we are undertaking our to-do list(s).
Knowing what works for you and what doesn’t is a giant leap when it comes to organizing yourself. What might work for me, may not work for you. The pressure cooker may be your best solution; you do your best work until the gun, while for other people they need to accomplish it as soon as they can once it appears on the list or it will just get lost along the way. By the time the deadline comes (and goes), it may be forgotten until someone asks about the status of it.
Time management and learning not to procrastinate can be huge stumbling blocks. However, they aren’t impossible to do. With some effort and practice, we can not only learn new routines to stick to but we can become more productive over time.