Deadlines can cause a great deal of difficulty in the business environment, including the potential to be expensive as well. Some of us embark on a ride to curse the clock because it reminds us of an unfinished task. Many people complain of anxiety and panic due to their incapacity to finish a task within the bounds of a set timeline. Such whining is a clear example of how much one can get affected by deadlines.
For instance, if you have to give a presentation in an hour or your manager assigned a task to you expecting it to be finished within a week and it is not ready yet, you might tremble with fear and wish for the clock to stop. This is also known as a fear of deadlines, which can cause uneasiness for an individual.
Leaders, unlike other individuals, use deadlines as inspiration and motivation because these people believe in strategizing their deadlines. As the deadline approaches, their creativity and productivity elevate and this is why some people may admit that they work best under pressure. In the corporate world, there are numerous reasons behind deadlines being a great catalyst for an individual’s productivity:
- If you stick to the mentioned timeline, you create a trustworthy customer base. Eventually, customers feel obliged to work consistently with you.
- When you promise and deliver a project on time in an organized manner, it reflects your sense of professionalism towards the business.
People who are in positions of authority feel that the employees have a perception of irresponsibility towards deadlines. The best way to deal with deadlines is to get your resource planning done right.
We have listed here four different ways to handle deadlines like a pro:
- Refrain from taking up tasks when your plate is full
More often than not people take up tasks even if there are numerous other tasks lined up, and this can cause much trouble. In this case, when you fail to meet a task’s deadlines, you lose accountability and credibility.
2. Set your own timeline
When a project comes your way, set a timeline of your own and keep a margin of two days for you to revise the project in case of any issues. This will avoid having those last-minute troubles.
3. Tomorrow never comes
Usually, we procrastinate our tasks thinking ‘we’ll do it tomorrow.’ And we’d like to call this type of deadline as an artificial deadline. Now, this certainly doesn’t mean that you must finish every item of work today, but taking a step towards it means you’re halfway through it.
4. Work towards priority
Always set your priorities before you dive into your work. Take a good 30 minutes before you begin working, and manage your priorities first. This way you will always do priority-based tasks, and deadlines will be the last thing on your mind.
Don’t just keep dodging tasks, work through them and you will never have another anxiety attack because of a DEADLINE!
