A lot of things you work on don’t look as good to you the next morning as they did the night before when you finished them. The essay you wrote for English class the night before might not feel like your best work the next day. Your college application, the project you’re working on in AP Euro, the layout you just finished for the yearbook, what looked good to you at the end of the day often doesn’t look as good the next day. It’s normal and it happens to everybody. And it can be a cruel trick when you finished something the night before it was due only to be less confident when you submit it the next day.
But what if you used that to your advantage?
What if you started earlier so you could have a few more nights of sleeping on it and tweaking it the next day? Sure, you’d have more time to get it done and you’d be less stressed. But you’d also gain a few more nights worth of perspective to see just how good it could be. That would be a huge advantage. Imagine how much better your finished product would be.
Eventually, what you see the next morning will look just as good as it did the night before. And that’s when you’ll know you’re done.
Whatever you’re working on, make sure you leave yourself a little time to sleep on it.
Sara says
How is it possible that you can write something every day that is so incredibly useful?
Kevin McMullin says
Thanks so much, Sara. I really appreciate it.
Katie says
Hey, Kevin. I tried to send this article to several e-mails at once but I guess that is not allowed. So, I sent it to several people, one at a time but had problems with the coded word that must be entered. Any advice on either point? Thank you! As you know, I love your postings and read them religiously!!
Kevin McMullin says
Katie- The easiest way to send to multiple people is to click the “Permalink” link at the bottom of the post. That refreshes the page to appear with just the blog posting you want to forward. If you then copy the url from your browser, you can email that to anyone. So for this post:
1. Click permalink
2. Copy the url “http://www.wiselikeus.com/collegewise/2011/12/make-time-to-sleep-on-it.html” that appears in the address portion of your browser.
3. Paste that link into an email and send to as many people as you’d like.
Thanks for reading, and for being patient with the email system!