“I’d procrastinate, but I keep putting it off.” It’s an old saw but I think there’s some truth to it, at least for me.

Actually the truth is, when I’m not busy, I tend to procrastinate and things don’t get done. But when I’m busy, I get more done. How many of us say “I perform better under pressure”? I know I do.

The other phrase that comes to mind lately is “When it rain, it pours.” The above two adages seem to be the story of my life lately. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

You see, in the life of a consultant it’s often feast or famine. And some times of the year are often more famine than feast. For example, my largest client goes into a code freeze during the last 2 weeks of the year. Taking this into account, I figured I’d have some downtime and be able to work on some projects around the house.

But then, last week, another client emailed me to ask about my availability. They’re a good client and I enjoy working with them, so I responded right away. Unlike my previous project with them that was just a few hours, this one was a top priority project with a firm deadline and lots of work in a short period of time.

Suddenly, my calendar was more full than I expected.

Then my largest client, during our weekly all-hands call, informed me that a project I had completed, they were probably going to take a completely different tact on, and “oh by the way, we’ve got a strict timeline!”

And then of course today, another client calls in with an issue.

Suddenly my calendar was even more full than I expected.

Oh, and did I mention I have a talk to present at SQL Saturday in DC this weekend? And the hardware I was going to use for it is not working?

Suddenly my schedule was completely topsy-turvy and I’ve had to work harder than ever.  But, since I’m already busy, I’ve actually spent a little extra time on other projects that I had been putting off; like finishing the edits on my second article for Red-Gate’s Simple-Talk and then writing a first pass of my third article for Red-Gate’s Simple-Talk. I probably would have procrastinated on that last one a bit longer if I weren’t busy. I know, sounds backwards, but yes, being busy encouraged me to spend time writing.

Of course sometimes even some schedules have to slip, hence this post being 12 hours later than normally scheduled.

When it rain, it pours.  And right now, that’s a good problem to have.