Accepting the Baseline Switch

There aren’t enough words to describe the chaos of my February. Long work days filled with a task list that won’t stop growing, flipping and burning. A mad rush to a very near finish line.

Within the chaos I began noticing the psychological shift that happens as time shortens and to-do lists lengthen. People naturally begin to accept the baseline result rather than the original quality or workmanship they expect to accept. In a lot of situations this is necessary and helpful. The priority task gets the attention, and the rest of the tasks tumble down the ladder and end up with baseline acceptance. I don’t see this as a bad thing. However, it often comes as a means of progression in the present. Only to return to improve or redo in the future due to the baseline being less long lasting than a more quality first attempt.

Ultimately I feel like this is a natural and useful psychological switch. As long as you and the people around you are aware that the switch is being flipped, and you know when to flip it back.