adminWhen I studied architecture, we had these crazy weeks. At the end of every semester, we had to present our architectural design. With scale models, drawings, calculations, a report, and a presentation. The week before the deadline, it was always a battlefield.
Some students were always working ahead during the semester. So when D-Day came, they were calm and prepared. Most students, however, kept 80% of the workload for the last two weeks. They were the opposite of calm and relaxed. Then there was me. Calm and relaxed, but also very unprepared. In an unjust world, we would like to hate on the nerdy guys and gals who always have their shit well organized. In reality, it’s the cool kids who are the hateful ones.
You see, the last two weeks of a semester were literally like a battle royale. About two hundred students in one big area, divided into twenty large tables, and the same number of professors (actually architects dressed up as teachers). Let’s say that 20% are in the calm group and the rest are stressed. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of pen clicking, paper shifting over tables, and loud, fast talking.
As someone who can be classified as a professional procrastinator, I always had to work until the sun came up on deadline day. I’m that bad at planning and doing work in advance. However, I was always calm. At least, I appeared calm. From the outside, no one could see that I was sweating from the inside. The only thing that made me nervous were the other students who didn’t have their act together.
The thing I probably hate the most about other people is when they make their stress also your stress. Rapid-fire questions, not really wanting to listen to any answers, constantly shifting tasks. Sometimes, an outburst of frustration. To make everyone around you stressed because you can’t keep calm is, I think, one of the worst things you can do as a human. With one exception.
The stress these people throw over their fence is always ‘free’ stress. They dropped their shit, got a shovel, and threw it right at your face. They are relieved. You are covered in shit. I didn’t ask for it; I got it for free. I think no one with a sane mind likes to receive someone else’s packages full of droppings. The exception is when there’s a good amount of money in play.
I say a good amount because it’s subjective. Is €10 enough? €100, or a million? It depends on the situation, the needs, and the relationship with the jack ass. In some cases, no amount of money will be enough. And the funny thing is, spending money to have your shit covered works in a beautiful way.
When shit is given to you for free, no FOCCs are given to your time. It’s a bit like this: “I have a problem; now it’s also your problem, and you must help me”. But when money is involved, especially the larger the sum, the more your time is respected. As if spending a good amount of money makes people levelheaded again. Generally speaking, the people who want things for free (or want to pay less) give you quadratically more trouble than the people who pay a premium. So let’s turn things around.
Never be the one who throws shit over the fence for others to catch. People will hate you for this. Even when they say they don’t mind. A person can only handle so much. Remember that you are always the owner of your own mismanagement. Keep calm, move one brick after the other, until the deadline arrives. If it’s finished, everyone is happy. If it’s not finished, you look for a solution. Not the other person.
And sometimes, at a certain price point, you can get support. Now, more bricks can be moved at the same time. And everyone can be happy and listen to Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.