Plan B

Since I usually write my weekly blog on Sunday, which was yesterday, I told Daveen last night that it was already “too late” to write my blog early.  She laughed, which was nice. I always love to hear Daveen laugh.

This morning, faced with an imminent deadline, I decided to write about the galvanizing power of deadlines, something, that certainly applies to me.  I checked my previous blogs and was not entirely surprised to find that I have written about that before.

My mind immediately turned to possible alternatives.  In other words, Plan B.  Here are a few of the possibilities, (together with my comments).

1. Skip the blog for this week. (Unthinkable.  I’ve written a weekly blog for eight years, and do not intend to miss one.)
2. Write another blog about deadlines, but with a different twist. (I’m not excited about plowing the same field yet again.  I like to believe I’m more creative than that.  Also, as Robert Frost wrote, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.)
3. Consult my list of potential blog topics. (The inspiration is often more difficult than the actual writing.  That’s why, whenever I have an idea, I write it down.  I have accumulated a list of more than 300, but I prefer to challenge myself to come up with something new.)
4. Write a “spin off” from my other blogs about deadlines. What do I do when my first plan to meet a deadline doesn’t work?  (Aha!  Plan B.)

So here we are.  In the middle of Plan B.

There are three reasons I seldom develop a formal Plan B.  First, I don’t want to waste my time planning an unnecessary alternative.  Second, I always expect Plan A to work.  Third, I have confidence that I can come up with Plan B if and when I really need to.

Of course, I only make plans when I’m faced with a deadline, so I guess this blog is really about deadlines after all.  Just now I bought tickets for a play that will be performed in three weeks.  The theater was already almost sold out.  Even though I might think I’m the most important person in the world, theaters and airlines never seem to agree.  They just sell tickets to the first buyer to come along.

And I prefer plans (and blogs) that are simple and short.

Enough said.

Alan