Procrastination is the thief of time

I found this bit of wisdom posted by a guy named Peter Poyser on a the PRW Audio Recording and Music Production website. I think he hits the nail on the head.

"Procrastination is the thief of time." 
Such over production usually comes from a form of paralysation, its an avoidance and hesitancy  and is usually caused by a lack of proper pre-session preparation, proper musical arrangement, solid rehearsal, and lack of overall vision; is a curse of modern technological capabilities, and an example of how technology can impede clarity of perception.
Vagueness, indecisiveness, the restraining inability to execute an executive act, delaying with the subsequential need to record and hoard every little concomitant element however dubious its worth, just in case you might comp a tiny bit of it that just might eventually prove to be indispensible. Endlessly Comping Tracks, Recording Multiple takes of every element of the Mix.
None of these options would have been available to the Engineers Producers that Recorded most of the Hit Sessions that made up what we now regard as a Golden Era of Recording History. Every Artist and Performer needed to be able to "cut it", and where there were overdubs, track bouncing, tape to tape transfers etc. Someone usually had to "Commit " making irreversible decisions, they and their Artists would have to be able to live with, and which they would be judged by.

Granted that there are certain elements in a Mix that need to be applied to the Mix as a Whole.

But bringing old school talent and methods to new technologies. 
Preventing the endless capabilities from being your Master, and making them your Slave.
These methods put the Focus and Pressure on the Sound coming from the Artists and Musicians stood in front of the Mics.

Exactly where it should be.