ТОW#449 — At the last minute

I used to be the kind of person that did things at the very last minute, but then I realised that the only thing I got from doing so was a headache. If I’m honest, I didn’t learn my lesson, or maybe I did but I still seem to leave things until the end.

Speaking of lessons learnt, I now know that doing things at the last minute only leads to tension, anxiety and often ‘bumbled’ results, of which the tension is the most long-lasting. In addition, the entire situation is stressful and so it takes longer to ‘unwind’ having finally completed the task at hand.

However, because we are all tied to deadlines and respecting those deadlines doesn’t always depend only on us, no matter how much we may learn to get things done on time, when we depend on others we may sometimes be unable to meet certain deadlines. Therefore, make sure that you always finish your tasks on time, while for those tasks where others are also involved, try to learn a few tricks and introduce some mitigating measures:

• Organisation — try to get everybody involved in the work to be organised along the same lines as you.
• Approach — the seriousness of your approach will define whether you finish the job on time or leave it until the very end. Only with a serious approach towards tasks and responsibilities that you yourself have undertaken will you be able to avoid getting things done at the last minute.
• Prioritisation — first do the things that you know will take the most time and those that are the most urgent and tied to deadlines, and then do the rest. Don’t, like most of us, do the easiest things first (tasks that you can do whenever you want), and work your way up to the others…
• Planner — have a planner on your desk or on the wall and write down all the things you need to do. If you don’t have one, feel free to get in touch with us and we’ll gladly send you one in the post (the first five people who reply to this ToW will receive a #TipOfTheWeek branded planner).
• Concentration — doing things at the last minute requires greater concentration because you are under pressure from time, circumstances and resources. So, if you’ve decided to leave something until the day before the deadline, then try to isolate yourself and be alone, because you’ll need more concentration than usual.
• Start slowly — the road is long and if you burst out of the blocks sprinting you’ll tire very quickly!
• Expectations — in accordance with the time and energy spent, don’t have too high expectations about what you’ve done. Of course you should still tell yourself that everything will be done as well as possible, but it’s highly likely that it wont’t be. After all, it was done at the last minute.

The above-mentioned points, that most of us don’t abide by, make me think of all those ‘Last Minute’ offers you see in tourist agencies. Yes, they’re indeed sometimes cheaper, but they’re not always the best option, because the choice is limited to what’s being offered at that particular moment. Anyway, the point is, don’t do things at the last minute!

Wishing you success with the changes to come,

@kalin.babusku

“Tip of the Week” Team member

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