Flashback: Procrastination

I’m reminded of several unfortunate moments in my academic career where I assumed that a project would be much simpler than it turned out to be. No, not simpler, per se, but less time-consuming. Where you sit down a couple nights before it’s due and say, “OK, time to crank this bad boy out.” Then, once you’ve started, you look at the scope of the project and realize that you may not get the luxury of sleep in the next day or two.

I just had a moment like that.

There are times when sticking by your guns and not working until a particular issue (say, the issue of getting paid) gets resolved ends up backfiring. This is one of those times.

Tomorrow evening is going to be spent working on my next contracting project, the one that my contact suggested I might want to start on over this past weekend. I’m going to be possibly eating dinner at my desk, and definitely working from 6pm through to 10pm, at which point I hope to be finished and able to go to bed. If not… I’ll stay up until it IS finished. The proof is due Thursday.

Now I know. Sometimes I can be such a stubborn dumbass. *shakes head*

4 thoughts on Flashback: Procrastination

Comments are closed.

  1. OMG. I just spent 8 hours on that damned project tonight, and it’s still not done. I’m taking a half-day off of work to get the last bits of it completed… and to get a reasonable amount of sleep.

  2. OK. Took a half-day off, got up at 9:15am, got started at 9:30am, and got done at 11am, just like I’d guesstimated. I fully expect the project to need some fixes, but at least it’s done by the deadline, as promised.

  3. Was getting paid really the sticking point? If it comes down to that, it’s their fault the deadline got pushed back, not yours.

    I get frustrated with clients who can’t make a decision until the last minute, and then they expect you to be a miracle worker. Grr. Stupid clients. Maybe if you ignore them, they’ll go away…

  4. getting paid really was the issue. i wasn’t going to work unless i had assurance that my hours from the *last* project were entered and approved.

    of course, i knew i wasn’t going to leave them high and dry for this project, though, so it was kind of a futile stand to make.