They are so easy to come by. We manufacture excuses all the time. We do it subconsciously and often with direct purpose. We don’t see them a s a lie but as an attempt to divert from doing something. It’s an attempt to lessen the blame for something we did or didn’t do. And looking to push our own screw-ups, failures, reasons why something didn’t happen on someone or something else is nothing more than an EXCUSE. We can justify them as ‘reasons. We can offer an explanation to support all of that but at the end of the day, it all shakes out as an EXCUSE.There will be a ‘things to do’ list and time can often get the best of us. There will always be reasons why you didn’t complete the task. There will always be reasons why it didn’t get done – But people are counting on you and that’s all that matters. You were charged with something, and your job is to get it done. Get it done well, on time, meeting all the goals and deadlines. And if you don’t measure up, they will want to know why. Do you want to have to manufacture an excuse and hope they buy it? Probably not, so stay on task, get it done, finish it, make it happen, execute, use your resources, manage your time, bring it to the finish line and know in your head that what you present meets the criteria and the expectations or better yet, exceeds those expectations. Exhibit efficiency. Be competent. Be organized. Be professional.
Make it clear to your colleagues that it’s EFFORT and not an EXCUSE.