It’s not like I purposefully put things off…well, maybe I do a little bit. When you are a bit of a perfectionist and a tad impatient (I prefer things done right, the first time, five minutes ago), it can make for a complex situation when you have multiple projects and multiple deadlines. As it is in so many things in life, you have to learn how you work best. What I have learned is when I finish something really early, I will continue to go back and nitpick it to pieces trying to make it “better.” I’ve also learned I do my best work under a moderate amount of pressure. You know when you get to that moment where you realize, “Holy smokes, if I don’t get this finished in the next few hours, XYZ will happen or not happen?” That moment where you’re heart rate is up a little, you purge your world of all, or at least most, distractions, knuckle down and “get ‘er done.” That’s when I go at it like I’m killing snakes and wind up with a great finished project. There’s not time to obsess over which type of font to use or which photo looks best. There’s not time to second guess what you ‘coulda, ‘shoulda, ‘woulda done if you had more time because you’ve mentally cleared all the distractions out of the path.

I know you may be thinking my life would be much less stressful if I just moved that whole process up by a few hours, or days, or in some cases weeks. I prefer to think of it as my daily prioritization. It’s not like I don’t intend to start earlier, there just tends to be a new priority that comes in every day and when something isn’t due yet, it’s easier to put that off. Like this blog. My plan was to type it up Wednesday so it was ready to post today. However, Wednesday I had to work on the presentations that I needed to review on Thursday before presenting on Friday, and well, there it goes.

Today begins our annual Obesity Action Coalition board retreat so you may not hear from me again until Sunday.