I think many people will agree with me when it comes to deadlines, how can you not meet them? When given a deadline at work, home or outside activities such as church or an association that you belong to it seems that if you do not meet a deadline on something that you have promised you are saying a lot about if you are a responsible person or not. Now, I know there are times when illness, or other sudden emergencies happen unexpectedly and a deadline needs to be missed, but for some people this is a regular problem. For those of us with “A” type personalities we just cannot figure out why someone would not meet a deadline that they knew they accepted to meet. We are the type that would stay up all night, if it were necessary, to meet our deadline because of how this reflects on us as a person. I have colleagues that it doesn’t phase them if they miss a deadline and to them the first deadline is just a warning, and they push the envelope, so to speak, to the limit and if they miss it, “oh well maybe next time.” Which drives me and I am sure those like me crazy, and says volumes about those who do this. There are steps that you can take to help you meet deadlines, which would make you a better team player for sure. Here are a few of them;
1. Think about the task as soon as you have been assigned it and figure out actually how much of your time it will really take. This needs to be done right away in order to make an impact on getting it done. Once you have done this give yourself a cushion of time, maybe a week or more as the “real deadline”, but then forget about the cushion, this way you are done before you really need to be. (what a great thought!)
2. Look at your schedule and figure out when and where you can schedule time slots to work on the project that you have taken on.
3. Break the project down into bite size pieces to fit the time slots that you have allowed. Define what the steps are that you need to do at each time slot. Details are important.
4. Create a check list to work from so you can make sure that you are covering everything that needs to be completed. Then check them off as you do them. (This makes you feel good as you do it)
5. Look at your schedule often, put it in your PDA on a calendar or whatever device you use, but know that the time is coming to work on your project and set yourself up for it.
6. If completing your project on or before the deadline is not reward enough for you, then figure out what would be a good reward and treat yourself, you deserve it.
Meeting deadlines says a lot about what type of person you are, dependable, reliable, trustworthy, organized, etc., just as not meeting deadlines says a lot about you…just put an “un” in front of each of the words, i.e., undependable, unreliable, etc…. Which would you rather be thought of?
“The difference between the impossible and possible lies in a person’s determination.” ~ Unknown
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