About three weeks ago, I was talking to one of my friends. The talk turned to study habits, and I found out he always leaves things until the last moment.
“I’m pretty busy right now, because I have a large project to finish in two weeks.”
“How long did you have to do the project?”
“Plenty of time, but I always leave things until the last moment. I don’t know why.”
We talked a little bit more, and I found out:
- he likes working under pressure
- he always leaves big projects until the last moment
- he always gets them done, and gets them done well
Now here’s a perfect example of someone for whom leaving thing until the last moment is the right choice. Yet when I talked to him, he was clearly feeling guilty for always leaving things until the last moment.
I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him.
Why leaving things until the last moment isn’t always a bad thing
You’ve probably seen me talk about the difference about being busy and being productive. If you haven’t seen the video, you can watch it here.
As I explain in the video, a lot of people confuse being busy with being productive. Yet the distinction is pretty simple once you wrap your mind around it:
- being busy means doing stuff
- being productive means getting stuff done
All things being equal, which would you prefer… getting something done in 5 hours, or getting it done in 1 hour?
Right. And that’s exactly where leaving things until the last moment comes in.
If you can get something done in the last two weeks before the deadline, and get it done well, there is no reason why you should spend time “working” on it over six weeks.
It makes much more sense to get the work done in two weeks, and spend the other four enjoying other areas of your life, or working on new fun projects.
And that’s what I told my friend. There’s absolutely no reason why you should feel guilty if leaving things until the last moment lets you be productive. So don’t listen to people stuck in the traditional “busy=productive” mode of thinking. If leaving something until the last moment lets you be more productive, you’re being smart, not lazy.
A word of caution
There’s one thing to watch out for though.
Your mind is an amazing device. It lets you keep track of thousands of sensory inputs every minute, and still stay sane. Unfortunately, sometimes it turns against your best interests.
And one way that happens is rationalizing your decisions. Sometimes you make a decision based on a flood of emotions, and then later make up rational reasons. What could happen here is that you decide to put things off because you don’t feel like doing them, and then rationalize by thinking “Hey, Vlad said it’s ok to put things off!”
Don’t let that happen. Remember the main point, – leaving things until the last moment is good if it lets you be more productive.
In other words, it’s ok if it saves you time. However, leaving things until later will often only cost you MORE time (and more stress), in which case do them immediately!
And that’s all. You don’t need to feel bad about leaving things until the last moment anymore. Enjoy!
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
You make some great points here — especially about rationalization. It’s okay to leave things to the last minute, as long as you’re not rationalizing why you’re doing it.
Positively Present’s last blog post..13 ways you distort your thoughts (and how to stop doing it)
I tend to be one that procrastinates and am more productive waiting until the last moment. It doesn’t work well with having a chronic illness. I am finding I need to pace myself and can’t do it all at the last moment like I once did.
Thanks Vlad, really enjoy your blog.
Kelli’s last blog post..SOMETHING ON MY MIND…
@PP:
Of course, the tricky bit is catching yourself rationalizing the decision :p
@Kelli:
You’re welcome. Glad to help!
Hi Vlad,
I recently added your blog to my RSS reader. I like this topic because it’s about something that as an economics major, I absolutely love. Efficiency. I had a friend last semester tell me that he took 5 classes and worked 20 hours a week, and he got the highest grades ever because he had to manage his time wisely. It’s ironic that sometimes too much time can work to our detriment.
Srinivas Rao’s last blog post..If you build it they will come…focus on content not traffic
btw, I have a quick question, can you tell me how you enable comments, so that you can get show what a person’s last blog post was? I assume it’s a wp plugin?
Srinivas Rao’s last blog post..If you build it they will come…focus on content not traffic
@Srinivas:
So true. Sometimes the best work doesn’t take all that much time (the single most popular post on my blog took me just half an hour to write).
The plugin’s called CommentLuv.
Yes! I’ve often found that if I start a project too early I don’t make firm decisions and waffle around mostly wasting time. Which isn’t to say I usually allow myself enough time when I finally get serious, but that’s anoher story.
Hilary’s last blog post..Teenage sex and other parental soap-boxery
I really don’t believe leaving something to the last moment will be the right choice for anyone… you will surely out perform yourself starting early and stress isn’t any good for you