The cover photo to this post may not look like much, but it’s the hanging sleeve going on my quilt for the Dallas Quilt Show. The quilt has to be dropped off on Wednesday, March 11, and this photo was NOT taken Tuesday night at midnight.

Most of my life, I have managed deadlines by waiting til the very last minute, then burning the midnight oil. This is not a good plan for a number of reasons, obviously, but I never seemed to be able to get myself in gear earlier than the night before something was due.

A few years ago I started to notice a shift, and this past year it’s really been noticeable to me that my planning skills and execution are getting better and better. I’m doing things well ahead of my deadlines, and leaving myself time to adjust and handle unexpected bumps in the process. So here is my show quilt, and it’s Saturday and I’m putting on the sleeve rather that late Tuesday night.

I really wish the rest of this blog post could tell you what fantastic tips and process I have used to effect this change, but honestly I’m not really sure how I came to make the change. I’m keeping my calendar and my lists the same way I always have done. Looking really closely at what I’m doing, the only thing I can put my finger on is that I’m getting much better about not getting distracted by bright shiny projects on the way. I’ve noticed I’m able to tell myself that I realize something is very appealing but I have something else I need to finish first. Who knew this old dog could learn such a useful new trick. I need to get better at planning out my blog posts next!