Why do today what you can put off till tomorrow?
Trouble is today is tomorrow. I mean, I've already put it off and now I can't put it off any longer. At school I could regularly be found hunched over an assignment at three o'clock in the morning, and would often 'pull an all-nighter' to finish a piece of work on time. It's not a good idea though is it?
Or is it? If that's the way you work, and I always have, then where's the harm? It could be that we 'deadline hawks' get a thrill from living on the outer limits of acceptable timing. Maybe that's when we do our best work; when it simply has to be done by a certain time, and that time is near.
It's not like punctuality though; I hate to be late for things. I got to Hamilton airport last Friday at 4:00pm to catch a flight leaving at 5:35pm - that's over an hour before I was supposed to be there. My wife, on the other hand, is almost late (I stress the 'almost') for everything. Drives me mad. Why stress yourself out by leaving no room for the unexpected?
She decided to come for a walk with me one morning a couple of months ago. I sensed trouble immediately and said "I leave at 6:00am".
"That's fine", she said nonchalantly, which failed to quell my unease. I just knew it was going to be an issue, since I'm a tiny bit obsessive about leaving on time.
Sure enough, I shuffled impatiently by the front door at 6:02am the next morning while my wife decided which sweatshirt to wear. Eventually it became too much for me and I headed out to the front gate. This did not go well. When she finally appeared and asked what my problem was, I told her what my problem was. There's no need for me to go into the rest of the discussion.
So why is it that someone who regularly puts tasks off to the last minute hates to be late? And vice versa: My wife wouldn't dream of leaving a business report to the point where she had to rush it, but will think nothing of arriving at the airport just in time to hear the final call.
Funny things, we humans. As they say "There's nowt queer as folk."
But we are who we are, and perhaps we should give ourselves a break and not worry too much about trying to be perfect.
Anyway AI is going to take care of everything within a very few years - one way or another.
And I've just squeaked in before the deadline.