Being a student, I need to justify my actions (or inactions). So here are 3 reasons to do things last minute:
1. Stress: If you’ve left things last minute, you’re guaranteed stress. Being under stress is like being inside an oven compared to a slow cooker. If you’re studying, stress bakes the knowledge in. If you’re working, stress acts like adrenaline and gives you a boost. Stress helps you do the impossible… because you have to get it done!
2. You learn invaluable life skills: Being forced to get a lot of work or learning done in a short amount of time teaches you how to be more productive. It teaches you to do more with less. You’re also forced to learn how to deal with stress. These are invaluable life skills.
3. The Pareto (80/20) Principle: According to the Pareto principle, 80% of the work or learning you get done in general will be completed in 20% of time you spend doing it. So you might as well plan ahead, schedule to cram, and focus on fully utilizing the 20% of time you have left.
Do you have any reasons why it is good (or not so good) to do things last minute?
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I think you're misapplying the Pareto Principle. Even if the Pareto Principle is strictly true, it doesn't mean that spending the last 20% of your available time will yield the full 80% of quality that you desire. It would still probably be a lot more efficient if you were using an unstressed, unconstrained 20% of your time earlier on to produce that 80%. And a whole lot less stressful overall (e.g. you'd be done early).
My recent post CBC News – “Prince William spends cold night in alley”
Yeah – the 3rd reason wouldn't stand without the first reason being stress
– you can plan to batch process 80% of your work in the last 20% of time – quality is definitely not guaranteed, but completion can be 