Friends and Volcanoes: A Word on Deadlines
Any collaborative project has its challenges, but one that seems to come up over and over again is waiting for someone to send you something so that you can get on with your job, or so that the project can be delivered on time.
Every project has a final deadline when everything has to be finished. And we all know how persuasive an imminent deadline can be for getting work done. That deadline can look horrifying, it can look too close, it can make you feel like saying “Stuff it, I’m going down the street for a coffee and never coming back.” But in the end you’re back there working to get every little thing finished before that time is up.
On top of that there are some pretty negative effects on the body from letting things get to the last-minute rush stage that can lead to you only being less productive in the future or more likely to get sick.
That hard deadline isn’t going anywhere, but to make it seem more friendly you can create your own softer deadlines, points in time when aspects of the project should be finished even with a little leeway or room to move if other circumstances change. The point is to give your nasty deadline some nicer friends to make him nicer too.
If you know everything that has to be done for the project, then you can sit down with your project members and a calendar and block out your own deadlines for when each step should be completed. Even if someone does leave their part to the last minute, at least it should be the last minute of your imaginary deadline, so won’t risk the project as much.
Even if they’re not formally set, we often create our own deadlines: “I need this done by then so I can do that.” It can be as simple as that for group projects too. Just make sure your deadlines have meaning. If an editor is working with a writer, it’s often not enough to simply say “I need this text from you by this date” or “I need these captions from you on this day”. There needs to be a reason for the writer to invest in the deadline.
This is where a project timeline helps. If you can put it into perspective that you need something by this particular date so that you’ll have enough time to do the copyediting before you have to do something else, it is a lot more meaningful. If it’s the writer’s own project, then even working from all the way at the end can be really helpful; for instance, if the work is going to print on this day, then work backwards to show them how much time is needed to proofread, to have the back and forth of copyediting, all the way back to the beginning of the project when this chat should be taking place. From working this out together, you can create deadlines for both for both of you to keep to so that everything runs smoothly.
If you’re working with a first-time writer, then this can be really important; they don’t know the process like you do, they don’t know how long everything will take, so going through it with them like this will ensure that you’re both on the same page.
These deadlines will help you out with your own part of the work too. You get what you need on time but you’ll still need to work to a limited timeframe too, as the writer or writers and other editors will be relying on you just as much.
Procrastinating is tempting, it can seem wonderful at the time, like skipping through a field of flowers while ignoring the volcano that’s erupting on another side of the field. In the end though, you still have to climb the volcano, so wouldn’t it be better to climb it earlier when it’s not spitting out rocks and oozing lava into your path? When you leave things until close to the deadline, how long does it take you to finish the work? A few hours? A day or two?
It always takes as long as we have left. So why not split it up over the time you started with next time? Work those few hours split over several days or spread those two stressful days over two more relaxed weeks. Set yourself mini deadlines along the way, you only have to climb so far today then you can stop and look at the view over the field of flowers and at the end you’ll be able to look out from the top and see the wonderful scenery around you instead of having to rush off to the next volcano.
