It's About Time Ruth Wong

Avert time crunch by D.I.P.

In this column I'd like to share another acronym I've created for myself: "D.I.P." It's a reminder to "do it promptly."

Have you ever put off doing something that needed to be done because you felt you didn't have the time to do it then?

If so, have you noticed that often, by the time it really needs to be done, you have less time than you originally had?

This is something I realized as a teenager in Seattle. My job was to wash the rice for dinner as soon as I returned home from school.

Back then, before rice cookers were invented, my mother insisted that the rice be washed and left to soak in the pot for several hours before cooking.

I remember getting off the school bus, going into the house and not washing the rice promptly because I felt I didn't have the time right then -- but by the time the rice really needed to be washed, I was busier than earlier!

While I am better at D.I.P., some things still fall through the cracks and end up having to be done at the last minute, at the worst time for me.

A recent example is having last year's Christmas photos made into prints. Being able to see the digital pictures and videos on the camera and computer are nice, but I needed prints to put into an album for my 2-year-old grandson so he can remember Hawaii and the times we spend together.

There were too many to print on my photo printer, and I didn't feel I had the time to have them developed promptly back then. But now that I'd be visiting him in Boston, I needed the prints to make the album.

So, on the night before my trip, there I was, running down to the one-hour photo shop when I had less time than in the months before! With all the things to do before a trip, that was the last thing I wanted to do!

Again I'm learning that I might as well do something promptly when I think of it, even though I don't feel I have the time -- because by the time it really needs to be done, I might have less time than before.

If you, like me, have found that putting things off causes them to be done at a worse time, I encourage you to "D.I.P."

It will go a long way toward getting things done in a timely manner and averting a time crunch!

See you in two weeks!