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7 Reasons Why I Avoid Doing Things Last Minute

Upper half of a clock with wording why I avoid doing things last minute.

I always avoid doing things last minute, especially when it involves money.

Some examples are paying monthly bills, filing for income tax, renewing the driving licence and car road tax or paying traffic summons.

As it is now already the month of December, many of us are rushing to settle the financial-related matter.

This includes finalizing your 2018 income tax relief and grabbing some superb deals from the government which will end on 31 December 2018 as below:

Thus, I will share on reasons why I avoid doing things last minute.

Because I know many still love doing things last minute especially when it involves making payments.

Whether we do it on purpose or not on purpose, actually we can plan ahead to avoid doing things last minute.

7 reasons why I avoid doing things last minute

These are the reasons why I avoid doing things last minute:

1. Doing things last minute could cost me a penalty

One of the main reasons why I avoid doing things last minute is because I am not willing to pay more than what I am supposed to pay.

Imagine I failed to pay my RM0.53 over parking notice (OPN) on the last day of the permitted 3 working days at the coupon booth.

Because the bad traffic-jammed caused me to arrive at the coupon booth after their working hours.

Instead of paying RM0.55, I have to pay RM10.55

So, instead of just paying RM0.53 or rounded to RM0.55, I will have to pay a compound fee of RM10.00 together with over parking fee of RM0.55.

That will be a total of RM10.55.

Even though the compound fee of RM10.00 is a small amount, I am still not willing to pay this fee because I know I can easily avoid it from happening.

2. The system could be down

Nowadays, most systems are available online. But please do not assume that the system is always up and ready 24 hours a day.

There are possibilities of the system down. It could be the server down, power station failure, a major disaster, an internet connection problem and many other unexpected possibilities.

Take an example, I plan to top up my PRS on 31 December 2018 at 8 pm. But, by the time I try to access the PRS portal from my laptop, I failed to do so.

When I tried to access it from my mobile and other devices, also failed to do so.

When the system is up, it is already 2019 and I will not be able to include my PRS investment in my 2018 tax relief.

Thus, I always practice doing things at least a week or two weeks earlier than the due date.

In case the system is down, I still have time ahead or find other alternatives such as investing through a PRS agent.

3. The uninformed or unexpected situation might happen

In my younger days, I used to think that things are as they were supposed to be.

As I grow older, I have to learn to accept that most of the time, things are not as what I expect them to be.

There are many unexpected situations which can emerge out of the blue

There are many unexpected situations that can emerge out of the blue.

I had the experience of working in a huge customer care centre where customers can pay their monthly bills through the payment kiosk.

There were many occasions when customers failed to pay their monthly bills before the due date, causing the service to be suspended.

When asked further, these customers try to pay their bills at the last minute. So coincidence there are problems with the deposit machine at the payment kiosk.

Thus, they failed to make the payment on that particular evening.

On top of the service suspension, these customers also have to pay the reconnection fees. So, there is an additional cost incurred.

4. Doing things last minute could cost me additional time

Those who ever visited LHDN offices on 30th April will know what I meant.

Many Malaysian who still prefer to submit their personal income tax Form BE through manual forms, love to do it on the deadline itself, 30th April.

If I visit LHDN offices on this particular day, I can expect to spend a much longer time to get the service I need compare to normal days.

It is the same. If you prefer to submit your Form BE through manual forms and you think that you need assistance from LHDN staff on the forms, it is advisable to visit the LHDN office at least two weeks in advance.

You save on waiting time when you don’t do things last minute

This is to ensure that you are able to submit the forms before the deadline.

Besides, you also save your waiting time when you do it on normal days.

Read more: Malaysian Income Tax LHDN e-Filing step-by-step

5. Doing things last minute prevents me from having a better service

When there are too many customers in a queue, I can’t expect a good or full service from the customer service officer.

Agree?

A few years ago, I decided to subscribe to a telco service for the limited-service offered. And I chose to go there on the last day of the offer.

When I arrived at the service centre, there was a huge crowd of customers waiting. Most of them wish to subscribe to the same limited offer too.

The queue was very long. The customer service counter was packed and the officer working non-stop.

In a situation like this, I can’t expect the officer to take her sweet time and attend to me with full concentration.

I also decided not to ask some of the questions which I had prepared earlier.

Because I know, part of her mind is thinking about serving the next customer and completing the queue as soon as possible.

To her, a long waiting time could affect her KPI (Key Performance Index).

If I had visited a few days earlier, when the service counter was less crowded, I could have been given a better service from the officer.

She could have more time to answer my questions and explain in more detail.

Thus, doing things last minute prevents me from having better service.

6. It gives me time allowance for any changes needed

Another reason why I avoid doing things last minute is because it gives me time allowance if I need to make changes to certain things.

In my previous employment, at the end of the year, I am required to complete my own performance appraisal.

Usually, the management gives sufficient time for all employees to complete the appraisal form.

And most of the time, I completed and submitted my performance appraisal to my superior ahead of the due date.

As a result, I got my appraisal review earlier. My superior and I had sufficient time for discussion.

Most importantly, I was given the opportunity to amendment on certain criteria which I had missed out on when I completed my performance appraisal form.

This opportunity did further improve my KPI score.

If I had submitted my performance appraisal at the last minute, I will not have had such an opportunity.

Because my superior will be too busy to complete the performance review with the rest of her subordinates.

So, avoiding doing things last minute could give me ample time for any amendments needed.

7. I could miss out a great deal

Lastly, I avoid doing things last minute because I could miss a great deal.

I would say, our government is quite generous in giving great deals to the people.

Among them is the incentive for full settlement on the PTPTN study loan.

In early December 2013, I made my full PTPTN study loan repayment.

I was given a 20% discount on my PTPTN study loan balance

And I was given a 20% discount on my PTPTN study loan balance.

If I had delayed my decision to make full PTPTN study loan repayment for a few months, I could have missed out on the saving of a few hundred ringgit.

Even though this incentive from PTPTN did come back from 27 October 2017 until 31 December 2018, it does not mean that PTPTN will offer this incentive in the near future.

So, if you are paying your PTPTN study loan on a monthly basis, you can consider full PTPTN study loan repayment by 31 December 2018.

In this way, you get to enjoy the 20% discount incentive.

The bigger your PTPTN study loan balance, the more savings you get to enjoy.

Final thoughts

I hope my sharing above on why I avoid doing things last minute is able to convince you not to do things last minute too.

I know that it is not easy to overcome the habit of doing things last minute.

But for this month, why not give it a try to settle things ahead of the due date?

Then, share with me how you feel after completing these things before the due date.

Read more: How to make full PTPTN study loan settlement

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