I’m probably one of the least/best qualified people to give advice on time management and procrastination. And here is why… I’m so good at wasting my time and procrastinating that I’m an expert on the topic who still struggles to overcome that natural obstacle.
We hear very often business gurus saying “fail fast”. In my opinion that’s a great advice. And I think it relates more to time management and productivity than to the common business matters like market, product quality, etc.
Failing fast means to get off your butt and execute your business asap without wasting time. And that’s great. There are many benefits to it. You don’t waste valuable time. You learn your lessons faster. And the disappointment of a failure is smaller.
On the other hand, following this advice pre-programs you to expect failure which is statistically right but in most cases counter-productive. Especially mentally. When you expect to fail, you don’t put enough efforts. So this way you additionally decrease your practical chances to succeed even more.
It can also rush you to execute your business in an average way and being average also decreases your chances to succeed.
It turns out that it’s better to take your time and ‘fail not so fast’. But again only if the additional time is productive, not wasted.
And don’t get sucked up in the other extreme of trying to make every single thing perfect. That ain’t going to happen ever.
Know your limits.
Failing is not the end of the world (in most cases). I think however, that the right mentality is to expect a win and work for a win.
Damn that productivity.