Posted On: Friday, 19 March 2010 by Rajiv Popat

After weeks of deliberation we have run out of time. Decisions are being taken, things are moving and work is getting done – really fast.

What had taken us three weeks to discuss is getting built in less than a week. What seemed hugely important during deliberation sounds utterly useless now. Priorities are changing. People are focusing on the right things and they are not wasting a lot of time, talking.

When that happens you know - It is the last hour.

The last hour is the time when you start running out of time. It is the time when you stop, take a gasp and you tell yourself – “shit, there is no time left!”

You are scared.

You are holding your ground.

Things are getting done.

Last hours are tremendously productive times. The good thing about them is that they test your limits. They provide you with some real constraints to work with and constraints are good.

Think of last hours as an exhaustive exercise for your brain. Too little of it, makes your brain weak. Too much of it can push you into a fire fighting mode.

Last-hours are often also an indicator that you are doing something new, or at-least something that you have not yet become very good at doing.

If you have never faced a last hour, chances are that you are playing it safe.

If you face too many of them you might be working in a reactive mode.

So, if you have just come out of a last hour and it made you stronger, smarter or wiser, pat yourself on your back. Then go and work harder so that you do not face another last-hour. Well, at-least not when you do the same thing next time.

I wish you good luck.


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