Conquer Your Fear of Deadlines

Deadline. Not the nicest sounding word in the English language. Examine the concept. If you complete your work on time you live. If you miss your deadline then sayonara, sharpen the guillotine, and call in the firing squad. While your company or client will probably not execute you if you miss a deadline, the result is often the corporate equivalent. You stake your reputation, broadcast your acumen, and establish your trustworthiness when you agree to a deadline. This type of pressure, while a superb motivator for some, can crush creativity and dampen productivity for others. A little pressure is a good thing but a systematic approach is better. Follow our guide to meeting deadlines and try to remember that a deadline is not the end of the world - just the end of the project.

Deadlines are like money. People take them seriously. Once they are decided renegotiation is usually near impossible. When negotiating, try to give yourself as much time as possible. Even if you think you can exceed expectations within the original time frame an insurance plan of an hour, a week, or a month (depending on the project) is always a good idea. When has anything ever gone exactly as planned? Workloads are easy to underestimate. Distractions abound and some days just don’t get off the ground.  Plan for the worst, but…

Don’t use time as an excuse to procrastinate. Just because you have plenty of time doesn’t mean that you should use it. Jen, a Research Analyst in Boston, is constantly juggling several projects with distant deadlines. “The day I get an assignment I take some notes and set a schedule with a one week cushion for my deadline. This way I have a grasp on the scope of the project and a better understanding of exactly what needs to be finished when.” Getting started right away sets a precedent of work so apply some pressure to start early and finish early. If possible, set yourself a deadline within your deadline. Early results go a long way. Even if you simply take some notes, brainstorm a little, or format a spreadsheet, you’re doing something. Eventually, “something” turns into a completed project.

Work in small pieces. If your project is important enough to have a deadline odds are that somebody is anxiously awaiting your brilliant work. Clients, bosses, and editors breathing down your neck (or maybe even worse – remaining silent) can sometimes make projects seem larger than life. Break it down into daily chunks. Once you complete your daily allotment move on and reward yourself with some fun. Go to happy hour with the girls, take a run, or hide away with a magazine. The end goal won’t seem so distant.

Work during your peak hours. Everyone has that time of day when results seem possible without the aid of a cafe latte. “When I was in college,” says Jen, “I tried working late and pulling all-nighters but I would lose focus and my work would suffer. I learned early on that I was more productive in the morning than at night so I would get up early and do my work before class. I still work best in the morning. So when I have a deadline looming I am often the first person in the office.  The quiet really helps.  No calls, no e-mails, and no Internet.”

Reward yourself. Balance is important. Remember The Shining? As Jack Nicholson descends deeper into insanity (sound familiar?), he famously hisses “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” All work and no play make Jill a dull girl, too. Go to that yoga class or have that cosmo. The happier you are outside of work, the more creative and motivated you will be at work.

Don’t win the battle and lose the war. If you kill yourself to meet one deadline you may be worn out for the next one. A little bit of long term planning goes a long way. Prioritize your commitments and take a step back.

Nobody’s perfect. You may miss a deadline every now and then. How you handle the missed deadline can be the difference between an opportunity to prove that you can handle adversity well and a ruined relationship. Make sure you alert all parties to your mistake. Apologize but don’t make excuses. Come up with solutions. Prove that you are focused and can solve problems. The more responsibility you take the easier it will be to rectify the situation. You may even turn a bad situation into a personal public relations victory.