At this conference some military hotshot told me that, when it came to budget and schedule, his corporation managed 100% ... 100% of their projects were either over budget or behind schedule or both. What I did (in a situation where consequences of error were very real) was to used a system I called "incremental lateness". Dig: "Oh my gawd, that paper's due this afternoon and I haven't even started yet!!" is not the same as, "OMG, that paper's due this afternoon and I still haven't spell checked the last chapter!" See what I mean? Perfectionism is the enemy of the good.
a) set up a series of targets (each of which will be missed, with increasingly minor consequences) rather than just a single target (which will be missed, with catastrophic results) b) time the targets beginning well in advance of the final movement. Plane leaves 10AM Monday? set out your suitcase Friday morning (which might work out to be Saturday evening, in reality ... but far better than 11PM Sunday) c) start on the major items first, and minor ones last, with an eye to duration. getting a sheaf of violet coloured writing paper might take 10 minutes, or it could turn into a 3 day scavenger hunt. d) remember: you're going to be racing the clock in the end anyhow, so don't sweat the big stuff ... take care of the big things, and the little things will take care of themselves. or not. but who cares. that's what they're little! :-)
How I helped myself:
What I did (in a situation where consequences of error were very real) was to used a system I called "incremental lateness". Dig: "Oh my gawd, that paper's due this afternoon and I haven't even started yet!!" is not the same as, "OMG, that paper's due this afternoon and I still haven't spell checked the last chapter!" See what I mean? Perfectionism is the enemy of the good.
a) set up a series of targets (each of which will be missed, with increasingly minor consequences) rather than just a single target (which will be missed, with catastrophic results)
b) time the targets beginning well in advance of the final movement. Plane leaves 10AM Monday? set out your suitcase Friday morning (which might work out to be Saturday evening, in reality ... but far better than 11PM Sunday)
c) start on the major items first, and minor ones last, with an eye to duration. getting a sheaf of violet coloured writing paper might take 10 minutes, or it could turn into a 3 day scavenger hunt.
d) remember: you're going to be racing the clock in the end anyhow, so don't sweat the big stuff ... take care of the big things, and the little things will take care of themselves. or not. but who cares. that's what they're little! :-)