last minuters

Can be all sorts of reasons for it sometimes with the best will in the world I have no mental process, and can't force it, for getting from A to B without the focus that comes with the crunch.

I've noticed an ever increasing number of people who seem unwilling to take responsibility for anything until forced to however - its really quite contemptible sometimes.
 
adolf hamster said:
seriously, how do people survive doing nothing until the very last minute before a deadline? do they just like stress and overtime?
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Perhaps they have rubbish managers who can't plan or prioritise for toffee.

My Monday morning planning meeting regularly features my asking my manager "Which of these five 'Priority Zero - Must Complete' tasks you've just set me do you want me to complete this week?"
 
Kreeeee said:
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Love that vid, his website is pretty good as well.

I'm terrible for leaving things last minute, all coursework was handed in at the last possible deadline and work wise I tend to get left to it so it usually ends up being a last minute rush under the guise of calm. Personal life is even worse, I've had things I keep meaning to do for years! They seem nicer in my head though than the hard reality of actually doing it and if there's no time deadline then I just keep putting it off.

Trying to get better but seems to be deeply ingrained.
 
Unfortunately the drive for efficiency and productivity means that our team of 3 people do the work of what used to be 5 people, so we've taken on the stance of do everything to be handed back at the last minute to avoid producing additional work for ourselves (people not liking the answers we provide for political reasons, follow-up questions etc.) that would then conflict with our immediate work plan.

The problem with this is that although we are working much harder/smarter - we are still meeting the demands made upon us - our reputation has suffered.
 
Kreeeee said:
A power cut almost made me miss the late deadline for one of my important pieces of coursework.
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this is exactly why i hate doing things last minute, because it takes just one little thing to take longer than expected or to go wrong and you've lost.

i guess its ok when the deadline's flexible but then your getting into the realms of wasting time.

for example during this current project i started on manufacturing a prototype of our design about 2 months ago thinking it'd take 3-4 weeks to get it done.

well it took 2 weeks longer than expected to sort out all the little problems it had but the important thing is it could have taken double the time to sort those problems and it'd still be ready to go. that's the difference between trying to pitch "yeah we have this idea for x but it doesn't really work but we're sure we can make it work" to "we had an idea for x here it is doing what we say it should do"
 
Kreeeee said:
I graduated top of my class from one of the best universities in the UK and I don't think I submitted anything more than 4 hours before the late deadline.

We had electronic submissions for everything with an automatic extension period for every deadline, but no other chances if you missed that one. A power cut almost made me miss the late deadline for one of my important pieces of coursework.
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I think the harder the course the more likely that is to happen... some assignments could become almost open ended (especially when "bonus" marks are available) so people kept on working on them until the last minute. I remember one where the lecturer basically said that for the last 10% it was all or nothing, no partial marks for attempts and that he expected that very few people would solve it... so you could end up (as plenty of people did) completing the vast majority of the assignment a few days in advance and spending an entire weekend working on something that in most cases would be awarded 0 marks.
 
I'm one of these.
Partly personality, partly I don't care about said thing.
At work I know it's because I don't love what I do I do it because I can and I'm not really motivated by career.
And that is either because I'm not working in the right company, but probably because I'm not doing the right job for me.
Im not lazy when it comes to things I'm interested in.
 
Doesn't matter. If it arrives on time makes absolutely no difference. No one will appreciate it more because it was early. Don't kid yourself. That's my university, oilfield and various it jobs experience.

No problems for me so far ... I've never missed a deadline in my life. I might be 2 mins late to a meeting though once a year.
 
If I have no interest in the subject that I have a deadline or have to do a job or whatever, then I will probably never do it. If I like it, it'll be done ASAP.
 
Lazyness in general and procastrination in particular are my demons but as films/books/games have been telling us for years, knowing a demon's name gives one power over it.

I control it, usually, and in the rare instances when I lose a battle I quickly gear up for the next one because procastrination is an incredibly devious demon that slowly but surely(if not contested) saps the life out of people's hopes and dreams.

Deadlines are a godsent for people who battle the nastiest versions of this demon, it keeps them floating. The stress is well worth it considering the alternative is, well, nothingness.:D
 
a fix for procrastination is recognising that it is usually starting something that people find difficult/try to put off, once you've overcome that hurdle it is less of an issue - therefore a possible fix for it is to just tell yourself you'll sit down and work on a task for a minute... right now... and then once you've started just carry on with it
 
This reminds me of a pal, it was after midnight, we were chatting on msn, his dissertation due the next day. He had not even started! Was just wasting time online.

He got a 1 week extension and got a 2:1.
 
I want to get most things done ASAP so I can relax. If I have to go somewhere, shopping or an appointment I'll want it to be as early as possible otherwise I feel like I can't settle and get "into" something. So I end up dossing and procrastinating until it's time to go.

Much like tonight where since 7pm I've been spamming refresh on Youtube and OcUK forums waiting until it's gone 11pm so I can leave and watch the midnight showing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

It's the petty stuff I put off until critical like emptying the bin or doing the washing up, putting petrol in the car.
 
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