Delphic Maxim 104: Act quickly
I’ve set myself the challenge of responding to each Delphic Maxim for 15 minutes a day
104. Act quickly
When I first had a glance at today’s maxim, I thought to myself “that feels a bit out of place”. Something about the tone of it — the idea of hurriedness — just doesn’t feel like it fits with the contemplative, careful disposition of the rest of the maxims.
And yet, so many of the maxims have dealt with the idea of strategy and strategic action. Sometimes acting quickly is essential (though not at the expense of thinking before you act, and acting when you know). In fact, the idea that you should act when you know seems to complement this one nicely — when all the information is in and a decision has been made, it’s time to get going.
There’s an old saying that goes something along the lines that if you want something done, give it to someone who is busy. Procrastination is a killer — once it sets in, it’s very hard to shake. Sometimes acting quickly and just getting things done is the better way to go: design, make, break, repeat. This isn’t about going into situations blind, but it’s about having a ‘that’s good enough’ attitude, and then being prepared to iterate and evolve ideas or creations as you go. Kind of like this project of writing about the maxims, actually!
Last night, my flatmate was working on an essay. Sometimes having huge amounts of time available can lead to ‘analysis paralysis’. I told him that he knew enough of the content for his essay, it was time to just write. Set a time limit, and just do it. The same principle has applied to this morning exercise of writing that I’ve set myself. I have 15 minutes, I have to write quickly. Sometimes the words flow, sometimes they don’t — but the practice of writing is what comes with that time. The experience makes it easier.
So acting quickly is a way to short-circuit the loop of procrastination. Minutes should be written up and released as soon after a meeting as possible — the longer you leave them, the less accurate they will be. If you know there’s a chore that needs doing, get onto it quickly so it doesn’t sit in the background bearing down on your day. Get up an extra hour early in the morning so you can get things done quickly, and have more time for other pursuits (or straight up leisure).
Of course, acting quickly — like so many things — depends on context. The pace of life in a city like Sydney is far quicker than that of the Central Coast, where I am originally from. It doesn’t make things less important, but I think the sense of ‘importance’ in quieter contexts comes to the fore: people don’t rush because they have a better of idea when people need to act quickly. In cities, the pace of life makes everything feel rushed — even if things aren’t that time critical.
Context is king.
I like decisiveness and I don’t like dawdling. If there’s a decision to be made, and enough information to make it, then get it done and get started. But any task has its own temporality — some things require quick acting, others can be slowed down. What it means to ‘act quickly’ relies on the task at hand — but regardless of the task, it’s a good principle to keep in mind, if only because you get more things done in a day.
