Alright, everything is changing and always on the move. Sooner or later this day will come again. The day before your new start-up. No matter what kind of start-up it will be: business, non profit project or a big vacation, there will always be things to sort out before everything will go crazy.

I’ve found that it’s much easier to have fun in any kind of teamwork if I do these five things at least the day before.

1. Hold yourself from implementing

One of my biggest temptations is always to start doing important preparations before the first team meeting. Actually there’s nothing bad in it. But it often happened that team decided we don’t need it or need it different.

So I stopped doing estimated important work beforehand to avoid doing something useless.

2. Write down everything you think

When you wait for a big event to come you’re often so excited and full of adrenaline that your brain starts popping with ideas like popcorn bag in microwave. And trust me, you’d better write down those ideas right away because in a few hours you will not be able to express them clearly even to yourself.

It looks really stupid when you step forward in the middle of the meeting and realize that you forgot everything.

3. Visualize your place in the team

Before I meet my partners and we start making decisions I try to daydream a little and imagine our future. Using my experience of what I know about my team mates I imagine their behaviour and how they would act in real life.

In my mind I model different situations and try to “see” our average workday. What everyone is doing, how they react in different situations, what do I do.

It doesn’t mean everything is supposed to be just like I imagine but it helps me to predict future problems in a big way.

4. Prepare to be flexible

Most of what you thought is pretty clear will change during your first team meeting. It’s the only thing you can always be sure of. So don’t be so sure about what your start-up will be like. And don’t be so upset if something will go different way.

It’s very rare when we get exactly what we want. And if not it doesn’t mean we have to miss all the fun. Learn to be flexible and things may become even better than you imagined.

5. Rethink your goals

It’s useful to check whether your new occupations will not contradict with your life’s vision, right before you will make any promises or put your signatures.

No matter how much you will earn or what will you gain, it is not worth of betraying your life’s goals and dreams. Simply because you will be sorry about this at the end of the road.

Your most precious time is what you have now. Spend it the best way you can.