The stress of the last minute rush can be demoralizing to anyone. Who hasn’t experienced this phenomenon? Well, if you think you have not then are you really being honest with yourself? .
“Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute.”
The best example that most people can relate to is enjoying your time at home and then the surprise call or text that someone is announcing they are going to drop by and visit you.
What the hell? Really? Why? They could have let me know well in advance.
What do I do now? The feeling of “I can’t let them in my home the way it is.”
So the burst of energy begins. It may only be minutes or they may be just around the corner but you try to tidy up and clean up the space to make it seem presentable.
The amount that you achieve in that very short space of time is actually remarkable.
Check out the post here to find out what you could do in one minute.
You stop and look around and see what you have done and think wait! This is in no way perfect but it is ok for now. You find yourself sighing with relief.
Stress at work
I know when you have a project to do or task to complete and for some reason you don’t seem to be making any progress. Something is holding you back. Waiting to hear back from others before you can move on. Maybe your own procrastination but you don’t seem to be making headway.
The eleventh hour surge of energy appears as the deadline approaches.
Wow! Suddenly things fall in place or you realise that you have enough to complete it as is.
Why were you waiting and what were you waiting for anyway?
I don’t feel this quote has to mean the actual last 60 seconds but a tiny amount of time that has a deadline at the end and this is the motivation to get it done .
We have all been there with an assignment to do and send in and thinking oh I have lots of time I can do this.. Research is the fun part so off I go and research and go down so many rabbit holes and so many paths. The fun is in collecting the information. Oh loads of time to do the writing.
Then suddenly it hits and you realise it is due tomorrow. Oh man!
And so the explosion of energy appears again and the work begins.
Do I get it done in time? Yes
Is it the best work? Probably not.
Not always but then again sometimes it is. You had all the information you needed, you just didn’t have the confidence to do it let alone start it.
Life happens
It can work out well in some cases but leaving things to the last minute is not successful or even to be recommended as no one knows what will happen. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at completely random times. Sometimes all at once .
How can you manage to do everything at once?
Well one tip is to find out the deadline or know when it needs to be done. Set yourself a date or time before then. E.g. ready by the 10th well ok then I will plan to be finished by the 5th
That allows me time to focus on it and have it ready to go. If anything else pops up in the meantime I can still do that.
It also allows me time to step away from it and get other things done and time to go over it again before sending it in
Oh and with the home panic of others coming over.. Well there are some tips for that too.
Yes of course keep an organised home anyway. Well hey we all live in the real world and real homes with real people, not these show homes that appear on social media.
One room can be focused on the blitz clean up. Keep the people in that room (oh and the bathroom for obvious reasons.)
But hey why if not weather permitting move the meeting point to outside?
There are ways around the whole last minute panic.
And there are times when things are hectic and no amount of preparations can have you organised and that is life too.
How to manage last minute panic better
“Nothing makes a person more productive than the last minute.”
Instead of thinking of this as negative we can flip this over and use the last minute rush as a good thing.
Think about the times that you have had to use the burst of energy it gives. Do you find yourself always in this situation in your job or work? Then what steps can you take to remove that level of stress. Can you set some steps in place to be more organised on a regular basis?
Find out the information or contact details you need on a regular basis and have some helpful hints ready to go.
If it is in your personal life, consider what makes you happy. What is your happy place and how are you most comfortable in it? If you don’t want people over to your place, maybe initiate the meeting in a public setting or at a time that suits you.
It is after all your home and should be your oasis and calm place. It’s time to own that personal space and decide who enjoys it with you.
