It was the end of the week and I was tired but I knew I had a deadline to meet. So after my little boy went to bed, I sat down at the computer and finished writing. I wanted it done by midnight.
It took me as long as I said it would. I put this down to Parkinson’s Law – a task fills the time you give it.
I was determined to not have to do the same thing again. In the past, I would have thought, no problem, I have Friday night to finish if I need it. But once I went through it, I know it’s not something I want to do on a regular basis. That gave me the impetus to push forward earlier on in the week or during the day on Friday.
Sometimes you have to go through something to make you truly understand what you don’t want. When you actually experience it, you know what it is like.
This reminds me of completing tax returns. There were a few years where I would be finishing them near their deadline, having been thinking about doing them for a while – using all that mental energy. That is why I scheduled an appointment in January to get the company returns done.
Use those “not so nice” experiences as a reminder to get what you want to get done now.