Do the job fast, or do it right?

Increasingly it seems like the former is winning out over the latter, but does ”doing it fast” actually save time over doing it right the first time? If you get a few less tasks done in a given day, but don’t have to revisit the ones you sped through again later, how does that impact your overall productivity?

Here’s a challenge. The next time you speed through a task just to “get it done,” take down how much time you spend the first time around. Then record how much time you spend in the subsequent days, weeks or months afterward for that particular task. Include the time spent refreshing your memory on what you did, and on how to fix it so it works the way it should.

Next, do the same for another task of similar size, one that you have taken the time to get right the first time. How much time after the fact do you spend fixing mistakes or revising functionality?

Usually, the conclusion will be that doing it right the first time takes a lot less time in the long run.

Of course there are times when there’s simply too much going on to get everything done “right” the first time. But if you find yourself having too many days like this, it might also be time to re-evaluate how you work, and whether some of your more time-consuming tasks can be delegated elsewhere. But that’s a topic for another day.