The Critical Moment
I’m publishing this daily blog post just in the nick of time. That’s because I was busy learning about that phrase’s origin.
Back in the 1500s, the phrase was simply “in the nick” and “nick” meant “the critical moment.” So as the phrase transformed with the addition of “in time” to it, it translated to “the critical moment in time.”
The term “nick” as it was understood then is now obsolete. But the phrase as it stands now clearly isn’t.
What I find fascinating is that the critical moment seems to be defined as the last possible moment when used in the phrase ”in the nick of time.”
I don’t think the critical moment is necessarily the last possible moment. I think the critical moment can vary from circumstance to circumstance. Even then, it’s rarely the last moment in any situation.
I’m posting this daily blog post at the last possible moment of my day, with very little time to spare. I wouldn’t say it was the critical moment, though. That would have been earlier in the day because most people won’t read this until tomorrow. The critical moment has already happened.
I do my best not to do things in the nick of time because I don’t want to do things at the last minute. I do my best to do things before the critical moment because I want them to have the greatest amount of impact.
I believe that’s an approach to time management and personal productivity that’s never going to be obsolete.
