Want a better final product, and less stress along the way? Try starting early. Whether in school or business, starting early, and taking regular steps forward, often leads to better results—not to mention reduced stress in the process.
Starting early allows the mind to kick around what needs to be done, even when we’re not consciously working on it. We’ll experience random ideas related to the work—sometimes in the most unexpected times or places. And the more ideas that come, the better the odds that some of them may be good ones. But these good ideas may never have occurred if we had waited till the last minute to start.
Starting early also gives us the time to implement the ideas that come. And when we’re implementing them, we also have the opportunity to edit what we’ve already done. Editing, revising, polishing—these are important steps in taking our work to the next level. But they take time. And it’s all too easy to bypass them if we’re rushing at the end just to get something done.
Starting early may not be as flashy or exhilarating as waiting till the last minute. But it does give us a better shot of producing higher quality work on a consistent basis.