“Works fill the space allocated to it.”— (One of) Parkinson’s Laws

While Rick and I have little in common vis a vis the kind of photographs that we make and even the kinds of subjects that we choose, we share a common heritage, especially when it come to the subject of a work ethic. This topic came during a recent lunch we had when Rick was presenting a seminar and workshop in the Denver area.

At lunch, we got to talking about work habits and during the conversation I explained my implementation of a philosophy we both hold about the process of work.

I explained it to him this way: I start each day with a written (or mental) To-Do lists of the tasks I want to accomplish that day. Like any list there are always some things that we like to do and others that we do not. Some people put off the stuff they don’t like until last and spend the whole day dreading having to deal with those tasks. And since the plans of mice and men doesn’t always go they way we want, the tasks we didn’t want to do today, get carried over onto tomorrow and then we’ve spent two days dreading attacking those challenges.

The solution, as I explained to Rick, was that “ I do the hard things first.” That way you have only the good stuff—the fun stuff—to do for the rest of the day with the bonus that you won’t have to do it tomorrow or spend all night laying in bed beating yourself up about what you didn’t do that day because you already did helping your way to a good night’s sleep and making you ready for a new day tomorrow, where once again, you’ll do the hard stuff first.

OK, it’s a little thing but give it a try and see how it works for you…