There’s so much value in getting things done early… yet we always leave things until the last minute?
I’d be quite interested to understand why we do leave things until the last minute. I could speculate as to why, and I guess many people do, but that topic can be saved for another time.
Recently I’ve spoken to a couple of people about starting projects and setting things up and I found myself emphasising the same point – do what you can now so you’re prepared. Have a store of content to get going with, be ready for delays later down the line by getting things checked off now.
Often projects aren’t completely solo, they will rely on another person in some way and this can instantly cause delays. In fact, the delays from other people don’t even need to be specific to your project, it could be related to something else, yet it impacts other things you’re doing. For example, you want to write an essay but suddenly a group member from another piece of coursework is “ill” and you have to pick up their work. Now you have double the work in the same time.
It just makes sense to get things done earlier, doesn’t it!
I’m by no means a master of this, and like many others, I probably wished I was. However, I do have a few techniques that I use to try and get things done well in advance.
1 – Break down every single step
This gif will explain the importance of this.
When you look at writing an essay, you don’t know where to begin and so you don’t begin. You ponder and think and times keeps ticking on.
So break down every step, from research for each point to references for a definition. Do 3 or 4 small steps and suddenly your introduction is written. It all starts to build up without much delay.
2 – Make yourself busy
They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. That’s because they know they have no time to waste, they won’t procrastinate, they will do!
Get involved in more projects, make plans for your evenings, do whatever you need to do to restrict the time you have available. Wen you know you don’t have any option but to do the work there and then, mot of the time you’ll get going.
If you’ve got any great tips please share!