Comments

1. Love on-the-fly concepts & Marines' last second plan & Governator 'improv wisdom' lifestyle examples - matches energy in radical minimalism.

Posted by sean_on_le_fly at May 10, 2007 9:58 AM

When I was in college and graduate school, I used to write all my papers the night before they were due. I'd do the reading and research, and take copious notes, but somehow I couldn't make myself sit down and actually WRITE it until the last minute. I thought this was a bad habit, but every time I tried to start writing earlier, I'd end up throwing out my first draft and starting over. (And I got good grades, so the only negative effect was occasional sleep deprivation.)

Fast-forward into my career as a technical writer and editor. Guess who has a sterling reputation for being able to do high-quality work under impossible deadlines? I no longer leave my work until the last minute, but in a crisis I'm the one who remains calm, prioritizes what's important and what can be safely ignored, and turns out the best possible product under the circumstances. My "bad habit" turned out to be a skill in disguise.

Posted by Paula at May 10, 2007 4:45 PM

Paula, thanks for the story. Reading what Dave had to say about a person's office was liberating--now I can approach my messes knowing that only half-way cleaned up is probably far enough. And what you say about last-minute work helps even further. And I think that the Marine bit was a compelling part of the interview. Add that to what Paula says here, and it makes a good case for everybody to judge themselves less harshly when they can't get going until deadline is near. I know that's how Tom works. He studies for days, even weeks, before an event, but he doesn't finalize the slides presentation almost until he's about to leave for the venue. How can he know what he wants to say until then?

Posted by cathy mosca at May 11, 2007 7:34 AM