How to Turn in Better Work

Idea

Whatever line of work you are in, you probably have things you have to produce, whether it’s reports that you’re writing or iterations of various products, and a deadline by which to produce results.

My best professional tip is to leave time to come back to it.

Example

If you work right up until the deadline, you won’t have time to really think about what’s going on. You won’t be able to process if you need to make changes or to consider the problems with the project.

So the best thing you can do is to leave enough time to come back to it. Get it done early and let your subconscious work on it for the remaining time.

When you come back to it a couple days later, you’ll have fresh eyes. It’s like having a totally different person look at whatever you were doing before.

Action

Look at your calendar and find a deadline coming up for something you need to produce.

Now take that deadline date, mentally shift it back a couple days, and circle the new date on your calendar. Do whatever you need to do to get your work done by the new earlier deadline.

Then sit back, relax, let your subconscious start to work on it.

When you come back to it two days later, you’ll be like a completely fresh person looking at it. You’ll see all kinds of problems and be able to solve them because you’ve been working on it for the past two days.

What you turn in on deadline will be so much better than if you didn’t leave that space.