The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

recent posts

about

Getting things done, part 5: starting early

In the first four entries in this series, I shared some of the obstacles I've seen people commonly run into when it comes to being productive and meeting deadlines–many of which I struggled with in the past myself–along with some strategies I've found helpful for overcoming those obstacles. In today's post, I am going to share something that I've never struggled with myself but have seen other people struggle with a great deal…and that is not leaving enough time to get things done. Allow me to explain.

A while ago, I saw this image going around on social media:

Two kinds

I got a nice laugh out of this because I am such an "A'' person. I literally do think, "I'm already running out of gas" when my gas gauge gets below 3/4 full, and am pretty much anxious about it constantly after that. Absurd, I know – but I can't help it! I've also known many B-type people in my life, and I constantly find myself simultaneously horrified and anxious driving with them. 😛

Interestingly, my sense is that this sort of difference in attitude can very much carry over into one's work-life. I always start projects super early because I want to make sure I will get them done with plenty of time to spare. For example, if I get a revise-and-resubmit and the journal gives me a 4 month deadline (or whatever) to get it in, I'll start now–like, the week I get the R&R. In contrast, I've seen other people who have trouble meeting deadlines seem to run into trouble because they adopt a 'B-type' approach. They think to themselves, "Hmm…well, it's not due for 4 months, so if I just leave myself one month to get it done, that will give me plenty of time." Alas, I've seen how this can go: they give themselves a month to get it done, thinking that will be plenty of time–but then sh-t happens, a bunch of stuff comes up they didn't expect, and they end up having to ask for an extension (or worse, get denied an extension and have to send off something that isn't as good as it could have been if they gave themselves more time).

This may seem like a pretty small thing–but my sense is that it can make a huge difference. Anyway, if you are someone who has trouble getting stuff done–and have trouble meeting deadlines–it may be worth asking yourself, "Am I always putting things off because I think I will have more time than I do?" If so, it may be helpful to consciously try to be an 'A-person' when it comes to work stuff–to tell yourself, "No, don't leave this for later. You need to get started on it now, so that you're not pressed for time later!" 

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Do any of you struggle with this sort of thing, or with procrastination more generally? If so, what tips (if any) do you have for handling it? I'm curious to hear about people's strategies!

Posted in

8 responses to “Getting things done, part 5: starting early”

  1. Revise, Resubmit, Regret

    When it comes to R&Rs (or, alternatively, submitting a paper elsewhere after a rejection), I always try to move as fast as possible and not put things off. My reasoning is pretty straightforward: the review process takes lots of time, and can be subject to repeated delays if the editors and reviewers decide to put things off. The only part of the process where I have any control and can minimize the amount of wait-time is how fast I do my revisions. So whenever I have something that needs submitting, it becomes my top priority. One downside of this way of doing things is that I sometimes get “submitter’s remorse”, and worry that I resubmitted too impulsively, or that I could have done things differently. So, for what it’s worth, being the “start things early” type doesn’t necessarily mean less stress than waiting until the last minute.

    Reply
  2. Marcus Arvan

    RRR: Interesting point. Here’s what I’d suggest in response. There is a big difference between starting early and finishing early. If you start early and finish early, you may submit things impulsively. However, if you start early and leave yourself more time to get feedback, then you will be less likely to submit things prematurely.
    This, in fact, is what I think is probably the best way to get things done of all. Get started early so you can leave yourself time to get things right!

    Reply
  3. Amanda

    I hate waiting until the last minute, but I have started to do so more often because I’ve just taken on too many commitments. So far I have only asked for an extension once though, and that was literally for only 3 days. I hope I can somehow keep it up. As for the quality of my work – I have become such an agnostic about these things. It seems regardless of how much work I put into things the same number of people think my work is great vs. the number of people who think it’s horrible.

    Reply
  4. Amanda

    Oh, and if we are literally talking about a gas gage, there is a third option that the picture doesn’t mention: You start worrying once 1/8 of the tank is gone and yet do not fill it until you are on the side of the road because, well, you have so much to do!

    Reply
  5. B

    Marcus,
    Can you fix the post. Don’t you mean to say that you are such an A? If not, I cannot understand the post.

    Reply
  6. Marcus Arvan

    B: Oops, thanks for catching that – fixed!

    Reply
  7. Paul

    I tend to be a type B person with almost everything else regarding work, and that is why I really like deadlines. But with R&Rs I am the complete opposite. Within a few days of getting the review I push everything else aside that I can and crank that out as some as I can, but that probably is due to 1. as someone above stated, this is the one aspect of the publishing process timeline you can control, and 2. I am on the tenure clock and once I get an R&R I feel like I just have a couple more steps to publication and I need it to happen asap. With other things it depends. Sometimes I will miss a conference submission deadline because I put it off too long, but if its high on my list of priorities I will get it done even if its last minute. For me, the creative juices flow when I am under pressure…for better or worse.

    Reply
  8. A Type B

    I’ve tried to cultivate habits which help me avoid running out of time.
    1. Similar to RRR, one of them is to always ask myself not “when is this due?” but “how soon can I get this done?” I simply don’t like having things on my plate (there’s always enough on it).
    2. Another is a strategy (I think) I got from John Perry. Basically, you write up your to-do list and procrastinate by picking off the easiest things on that list.
    3. To make (2) work well, you have to structure your list with some foresight. For example, my to-do list typically takes a 2-3 month snapshot of my obligations, so that among the things I’m picking away at are big projects down the line.
    4. To make (3) work well, I actually create new intermediary deadlines for myself. For example, when I was a grad student I would sign up for work-in-progress talks about halfway to a conference submission deadline or a due-date for a dissertation chapter. “Write dissertation chapter” (or whatever) isn’t an easy task to be picked off a list, but “throw together a slide show” is.
    5. Move deadlines up yourself. To use another easy example, when I was a grad student in coursework we typically had all our seminar papers due at the end of the term. Trying to write 3-4 papers at once in the last week or two is hell, so I would do 1-2 of them by a month before the end. Often times I would look for a natural deadline, e.g. by the end of spring break or by such-and-such holiday.
    I’ve found that if you’re really good at medium-term planning (say, a 3-month window), you can be pretty crappy at day-to-day time management and efficiency but still get a lot of work done and get it done early.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to BCancel reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading