The Eleventh Hour
By Adam Chan

Between 9am to 5 pm, there are a million things to do. How then we prioritize what to do first? Some may treat this frenzy converging priorities as a routine while some are oblivious to them until … With some many items to prioritize, it’s not unusual to experience repeated eleventh hour or fire fighting situations in today’s pace. One can imagine the many priorities we need to juggle in our daily undertakings. Even humans are created with the amazing natural ability to filter information to manageable chunks; one will not be spared of the anxiety created by any last minute situations.

Procrastination
Is eleventh hour a strength or weakness? First people procrastinate and later it becomes an eleventh hour rush. As the saying goes; “One of these days, none of these days.” But what makes people procrastinate? Is it habitual or attitudinal? Here are my two cents of this topic. Sure you will have your perspectives toward this as we were either the casualty or cause at some point of time.

Clearly, procrastination is the root of all eleventh hour rushes. So why do people procrastinate. Some say the behavior is innate while some think it is addictive.

Inadvertently we take mental shortcuts resulting in stereotyping of certain personalities are more likely to procrastinate. However this is not conclusive. Take this analogy for food for thoughts; a flaming butt will easily break into fire when placed among dry leaves and shrubs but if it is placed in a snowfield, the flaming butt will in no time extinguish into an inert butt. I.e. while we can attribute this trait to nativity but the environment surrounding it must offer favorable conditions for it to fully bloom.


While we can graciously view procrastination as innate traits and this perspective will at most increase our tolerant and understanding towards this behavior but it still doesn’t eliminate the inconvenience brought by it. No doubt the eleventh hour rush is not encouraged in most organization; this doesn’t mean there are no merits in the eleventh hour rush. Have you heard of the phrase, creativity out of necessity?

A general belief is that the traits are closely tied to the core of an individual; it remains unchangeable for most cases. If changing the core is an uphill task, why not change the surrounding? Certainly by changing the corporate culture and workplace so that procrastination is not conducive seems like a better proposition.

In a tongue and cheek manner, there are three kinds of people in this world,

- Those who make things happen
- Those who waiting for things to happen
- Those who wondering what is happening

The first one obviously is not one who procrastinates. Not quite… people who make things happen if they frequently change their minds unannounced at eleventh hour is no different from the type two and three. Sometimes, the impact can be greater. What about the other two? Have you come across people that might fit into the last two types?

The second and third kind seems likely to procrastinate.

From business perspectives, what does it cost to procrastinate? Take a look at these three facets where business can be adversely affected.

- Loss credibility
- Duplicated use of resources
- Time wastage