Somebody Else's Problem

When I was a young man I put things off until the last minute.  It was lack of discipline, certainly, but there is also a rush one gets from pulling chestnuts out of the fire, whether yours or another's. It came in handy later when I worked in emergency situations to be inspired rather than daunted by the task.  Toward the end of my career I would say to my office-mate "Fred, this is why they hired us. If it was easy, anyone could do it."

By that time I had learned not to put things off, because emergencies have a way of occurring at inconvenient times, such as while you are already fixing another emergency.  I am now a fan of getting things off my desk as soon as possible. Read it, reply to it, send it.  Pick it up, fix something you see wrong, and send it back. Your goal is to make this SEP - Somebody Else's Problem. Get it off your desk and on to the next.