Time Flies

There's nothing like an impending deadline (or two, or three...) to make time just whiz by. This past month has been a big blur due to the various tasks I've absolutely, positively had to get done - on time!

Why is it that people who create - anything - always underestimate the amount of time it takes to get something done? Most recently my project has been creating something that I used to make and sell several years ago. Although I knew it was really labor intensive, I still was amazed at just how long it took me to produce several of these items. (They're for a -hopefully- future article, therefore I can't/won't go into detail.)

And it's not just the amount of time it actually takes in reality (versus imagination) to create the object to your satisfaction. It's all the things that can and do happen in the meantime! It probably wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't try so hard to schedule things out in advance. I'm sure that my life and work schedule must look to most people like a huge mess most of the time. Ironically, I check my calendar regularly and try to be very realistic about what I'm tackling for a workload. But...things happen. I do my best to start work well in advance but there always seems to be some sort of monkey wrench thrown into the works. Tyger's recent life-threatening thread-swallowing incident is a vivid example of this. Right in the middle of several deadlines I had a cat that was vomiting around the clock, in severe pain and in need of fluid administered via IV in order to keep him going - and this was before he had GI surgery! Obviously that was an unusual event that we all fervently hope will never be repeated but that's life for you.

I don't mean for this posting to sound negative - it's just a challenge which I believe all creative people struggle with. Those who work on a deadline, at any rate! But then, those that don't work on deadline seem to have difficulty finding completion, so I suppose that is the trade off. Productivity needs deadlines.