"I know this is a little short notice but....." I hear it at least once a month. Many things in life sneak up on you and if you think you work better under pressure.....well....
The message I try to share often and with every customer is that it's never too soon to discuss anything - 6 months, a year, even longer, in advance of the actual plans. And it's exactly because things sneak up on you - remember the pandemic? Those who had a plan to succeed despite all the adversity made it through.
Forward thinking, preparing for the surprises, having a cushion for adversity, these are all best practices. Every year can't be a best year and even on a small scale, we saw many good and talented people leave the industry because they failed to plan - and therefore inadvertently planned to fail.
I try to show grace and try to help the last minute requests (without over promising, spreading ourselves too thin or ignoring them altogether.)
Sometimes the solution has nothing to do with us, and sometimes the poor planning is accompanied by "the world for a nickel" attitude. That's their lesson to (keep) learning until they learn it, not ours to pander to.
If you have it, check your science fair mentality - you had 8 months to work on it and you did nothing because you think you work well under pressure - take a moment to think about the important "vegetable" in planning you need to eat and you'll thank your future self for it later!
Shout out to anyone planning 2026 Summer reading programs - it's the year of the dinosaur - book your T-Rex, Raptor or other prehistoric experiences NOW.