Give me a minute, I’m good. Give me an hour, I’m great.
– Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith
Any time I think about people who work ahead, the thoughts are now accompanied by Liam Neeson’s voice. It’s a little odd, hearing his voice in my head. It’s made even odder by the fact that I have this mental image of him that is half Hannibal and half Ra’s al Ghul. It makes for some digging when I have to figure out who said the line about minutes and hours. In this case, Hannibal is the culprit.
I like Hannibal’s statement because it aligns with people who work ahead. While work-ahead people typically require more than an hour’s worth of preparation time, Hannibal’s principle applies: more time to prepare usually yields better and greater results. Having that time allows work-ahead people to plan projects and to adapt when life gets in the way. It gives them a flexibility not to be found when frenetically moving from one project to another. It allows them to reflect and to decide on the steps necessary to moving forward with an idea. It lets them focus on future projects because they already have done the work necessary to complete current ones.
Work-ahead people can accomplish some things when given one minute. They can accomplish even more when they have an hour. They become almost unstoppable when they have more time than that.
Image: Reza Vaziri (BY NC 2.0)
You sound like a woman who uses an editorial calendar, Erin! Do you? ~Michelle for NEM
New England Multimedia Ha! I’m that easy to figure out? 🙂 Yes, I do. I about have all of August planned out and have a few things set for September. I also use lists to keep track of projects for the week and the day.