On Deadlines
“I don’t feel tardy”— Van Halen
I often get practical business questions from my audience on my live Friday Instagram program. Sometimes I shy away from these, opting for the deeper, psychological, “Why was I born?” type queries.
But a number of these more daily operational questions are useful and I will address them occasionally here in this space. Like this one: Deadlines, Are they good or bad?
Hamlet tells us, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
So, like all of my teaching, this is a perspective question and your attitude (good or bad) drives your perspective.
In my mind, the only ‘bad’ deadline is one that for some reason crosses your personal boundaries and does not ‘feel’ good in your gut. Then, you fix it by simply communicating and asking for more time.
The reality is that deadlines are a part of professional life. They are boundaries set and met. This is how we define our character, by meeting our agreements and creating a reputation (and personal pride) as being responsible.
If you can’t meet deadlines that were set, you need to ask yourself why. Again, this is neither a good or bad thing. Possibly you don’t meet deadlines because you don’t like the work or client or secretly want to be fired. That’s fine. As long as you know this and act consciously and not unconsciously.
Lateness in any part of life can be seen as a lack of respect for the others involved; it can and will have consequences.
Being consistently late, in work or life, without advance communication is just not cool. Of course you can always ask for more time upfront if you are not comfortable performing in the space allotted. Most people are willing to work with you and will adjust. Just ask.
Here is the BIG IDEA
Nothing gets done without a deadline.
Creators especially need deadlines, or else they’ll stay up all night, every night, noodling over all the little details that no one besides them will ever notice…or care about. In the process, they will blow the budget and drive themselves and everyone around them crazy.
I am a highly disciplined guy. It’s a remnant of my military upbringing. But even I need deadlines to get work done.
For me, the deadline is the ultimate inspiration. I see on the calendar that something is due, today, tomorrow, or next week, and I finally get serious about it.
A looming due deadline removes the ‘too much thinking’ part. It is “get ‘er done” time! A tiny idea that I’ve been casually thinking about now congeals to real and solid.
I also get an odd confidence boost, because I have cut off all the exits, there is no time and no going back. I cheer, “This is really good!” And if it’s not—it still gets delivered cuz I got no time.
Here is a HUGE idea
If you are working on a personal project, especially something long term like writing a book…the BEST thing you can do is set a deadline for completion, or stages of completion. This is radically important. Without these in place, one project will bloom and spill into your other projects and your life. You will never git it done and every other project behind it gets pushed back. Or, worse, you will skip from one project to the next—getting none of them done. Ugh.
I am here to serve, so the secret weapon is this: Scheduling and Organization.
These are powerful tools to keep life and work moving forward and not go crazy.
The short lesson is
Scheduling: Make a calendar.
Set a deadline (reasonable and do-able), work backwards, and set stages to complete and celebrate every stage.
Organization: Make a list every evening before bed of what needs to happen the next day. Then, do the damn work.
I could write a book about the importance of discipline, deadlines and scheduling. And I could develop and investigate more thoughts here, but I have made promises and I have deadlines to meet.
