How To Never Miss a Deadline

Deadline according to the oxford dictionary is:

“The latest time or date by which something should be completed.”

This is the time limit you (or someone else) set for yourself to complete a particular goal or task. It is very important to set deadlines if you want to complete a task, whether it is a college project, a personal goal or a job. It is human nature to procrastinate. The mind of a human keeps wandering. According to The Harvard Gazette, people spend 46.9% of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they have to do, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy.

So to get your task completed, it is important to set smaller step-by-step goals with a time limit (deadline) for better motivation and preventing your mind from aimlessly wandering. For example, if your task is to complete five articles, setting smaller goals might help in achieving the overall work beforehand.

Importance of Meeting Deadlines:

We already know how important deadlines are. Making small steps in the form of deadlines will have a domino effect over time and before you know it, you’ll be where you want to be before time.

Why completing your deadlines are important?

• Deadlines help you to prioritize what you have to work on. At times we burden ourselves with so much of work which is not even necessary for us. Deadlines help you prioritize what you’ll work on (and for how long).
• When you set a deadline for yourself you are forced to think through the steps you need to achieve a particular task. Each step will require a certain amount of time. Visualizing all the steps involved (and finishing it) can help motivate you to start tackling each small step. Deadlines force you to think about what it will take to accomplish your goal.
• As you bifurcate your task into smaller goals and deadlines, it gets easier for you to complete the task, which further motivates and pushes you to complete more tasks. You need to set deadlines (and possible consequences) for yourself so that you will push yourself.

Inability to Meet Deadlines

Everyone is just obsessed with planning. We are all so excited when making that perfect to-do list but when we need to knuckle down and put our plans into action, we push them back further and further, up until the last minute — or worse, past the established deadline. If you’ve found yourself struggling with deadlines, you aren’t alone.

There can be many reasons why you are not able to complete your task:

• A very common reason for procrastination is making promises one can’t keep. People set very big tasks or tasks with very limited time which is not practically possible for them to complete and yet they insist on it. When the task fails, their morale goes down.
• If the task at hand seems like a waste of time, it will be difficult to motivate yourself to get it done instead of focusing on work that matters to you. Unfortunately, in higher education, it’s not uncommon to be asked to complete reports that may or may not be read by those who asked for them.
• Sometimes you procrastinate because you can! There are no rewards for doing the right thing and no punishments if you don’t. You are not intrinsically motivated and there are no extrinsic reasons to follow-through.
• People procrastinate because they expect the task to be unpleasant. The reasons they use to push back the project are just excuses. The longer they wait, the more resistant they become. Days, weeks, and sometimes months go by, creating more pressure and regret.

How to Meet Deadlines

Finally, the part which all of you were curious for, how to get the work done on time with our habit of procrastination, laziness and all the evils. Planning, prioritizing, and preparing are all important, but execution is where the rubber hits the road.

Meeting Deadlines with Team Members
As a Manager, you may have a team of managers and staff to delegate the work to. Where possible give them sufficient time to get the work done. Handing someone a piece of work or project and asking them to have it back to you ‘in a about a week’ is not satisfactory. Be specific. In some cases, it may be appropriate to ask them how much time do they need to finish the documents. Remind yourselves that SMART goals are attainable goals. DUMB goals are unattainable.

Meeting Deadlines Under Pressure
Working under pressure to meet deadlines involves dealing with situations that are constrained by time. Maintain control when faced with a deadline. Don’t let yourself think negatively, such as thinking that you can’t complete the task on time. Also, evaluate what needs to be done before you start working. The more prepared you are to work under pressure, the better you will become at it. If you discover a strategy or method that helps you work under pressure, use it in the future when faced with difficult situations.

Tips and Tricks to Get Better at Your Job

• Work on the hardest, most important, and most pressing tasks first, leaving later periods open. Having a lighter load later in the week or month gives you the flexibility to stretch out your work as you hit snags along the way, without running into new tasks you had planned to tackle.
• Set due dates for a couple of days before the “real” due date. If you’re terrible at sticking to your deadlines, this can be a sneaky way to trick yourself into a situation without alternatives.
• Start by finding purpose in the task. Never forget that how you handle these projects determines how you are perceived on campus. This is an opportunity to show yourself as a leader, a team player, a reliable asset, and someone easy to work with.
• Estimate the amount of time needed. Once you’ve been working in your chosen trade long enough, you’ll have a rough idea of how much time each task will take. One good way to estimate the time is by using apps like Timesheet X. It is a prominent app that helps you track your time as a pro for free. The app even lets you store and keep a record of your timesheet to further analyze and comparison, so you can forget about those manual diaries which are so fussy to manage! You can even calculate your salary by adding your rate per hour and the app will automatically calculate your wage according to the hours you’ve worked, so no fussing about doing that hectic math yourself.
• How much time do you spend on trivial or unimportant tasks? Learn to spend time on what is important and differentiate between important and urgent. According to Kent University, working hard is not always the same as working effectively and smartly. It’s time to become a priority-setting ninja and organize your list accordingly.
• Each project we complete is comprised of many steps. When you break large projects into steps, you gain a sense of accomplishment as each portion of the job is finished. Creating milestones will keep you goal-oriented, instead of task-oriented. Being task-oriented is great in the short term, but you’ll need goals to meet those deadlines.
• Procrastination causes stress and can affect your ability to do well in your job. Putting off tasks until the last moment can lead to substandard or unfinished work.
• Learn to avoid the Siren’s song! Removing distractions isn’t necessarily difficult, it just requires willpower. Turn off all other electronics and hide anything else you may be drawn to. If you work online, you may need to employ a site blocker to keep yourself off Instagram and Facebook.

Conclusion

I agree that meeting deadlines is no piece of cake but if the glass isn’t half-filled it isn’t half-empty as well. See the positive side, deadlines are not impossible to achieve as well! Consistently meeting deadlines is a cornerstone of a successful small business’s reputation. Deadlines are essential, especially in businesses that work with specific time constraints, like publishing, delivery services, and supply chains. Failure to meet deadlines regularly can create a negative image of your business and cost you money. With proper time management, you can achieve all your deadlines.

One of the greatest apps that can help you in achieving your goals is Timesheet X, a free time tracking app for iPhone and iPad.

(https://apps.apple.com/us/app/timesheet-x-track-work-hours/id1466196878)