INTRODUCTION:
So you know that when you eat good food to keep your energy up, and then avoid too much caffeine and sugar like a lot of us normally don’t avoid, it can cause us to feel sluggish. This behavior can also cause us to not stay focused. Take short breaks throughout the work time so that you can recharge. This will keep you productive, believe it or not. And then learn from the mistakes. If you miss a deadline, don’t panic, learn from it and improve.
Today we’re sharing a five-step process to your mastering deadlines.
BECOME A DEADLINE MASTER…
1. Reflect. Think about why you missed the deadline. Was it poor planning or a lack of resources? I you’re having trouble determining why, seek feedback. Ask for advice from your manager, your team, or your colleagues. Their feedback can help you to do better.
2. Create a to do list. This is the easiest way to start deciding what to do first. I recently made myself a to do list that was four pages long. That is absolutely outrageous. And yes, it is overwhelming to look at those four pages of things to do. But what that did was just by having that four page list, it lets me see, at a glance what I have to do. And it makes it a little less overwhelming, because what I’m committed to doing is crossing each task off of that four page list as I do them, and that helps me to feel like I’m accomplishing something. Otherwise, I’ll just be bouncing around, attracted by the next new shiny object by doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Then, before I finish it, jump into the next thing, but not really completing anything with quality.
So grab yourself a pen and paper and write down everything you need to do, then choose the most important task to do first, I’d say just number them, look at the list and number, start with number one and go down the list. And like I said, each time you finish a task, celebrate that win. Your system doesn’t have to be a fancy system. Sometimes it’s great to just go back to a simple way of attacking those things that challenge us. So cross off the task that you finish, and it’ll make you feel great. Then make a plan, or create a plan to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
This could mean better time management, or asking for help sooner because a lot of us do not want to ask for help at all. A lot of that, I think, for many of us comes from the fact that, when we were young, we were told in our developmental years of our life that we should not depend on others. But we are not an island. We are not alone. And we all need help sometimes. And sometimes that help can make the difference between success and failure. So let’s change our mindset about asking for help.
3. Many of us tend to put our work off. this is classic procrastination. So one way to start meeting deadlines is to fight and overcome procrastination. But before you can stop procrastinating, you need to understand why you do it.
Sometimes we procrastinate because we’re scared of failing, or don’t know how to start. Recognizing this can help you to overcome it. Do you procrastinate on every work task, or do you procrastinate on working on big tasks, or certain types of tasks. Find out by making a list of the work tasks that put off and put then in the appropriate category (i.e., big task, very important tasks, task you don’t like, etc.). Once you determine what type of task is your main challenge, break them down into smaller, more manageable sets of work.
The big tasks can be scary. So, that’s why you need to break them down into smaller steps to make the task less overwhelming. That will also create more opportunities for you to celebrate your wins. Because you can celebrate a little bit each time you complete a step within that task until you complete the entire thing. Or you can use the two-minute rule and to conquer procrastination. Simply put, you just evaluate each task on your to do list. And if something takes less than two minutes, do it right away. That’s going to give you motivation and momentum to push forward because you’re going to have some quick wins. Plus, those small tasks are going turn into small completions and are gonna keep you from feeling like things are piling up and becoming big time wasters.
4. Stay away from things that waste your time, like too much social media or unnecessary meetings. Protect your time. If you’re someone who is addicted to social media, dedicate certain times during the day that you can access your social media accounts. Don’t do so at work unless it’s during your work breaks or during your lunch break. Otherwise, leave it alone.
5. So, next comes one of those things that we all need to make sure that we try to do better. It’s communicating well, including timely. If you can’t meet a deadline, let your manager and/or your coworkers, or client know right away.
And here’s how to do it… Be honest.
Tell them as soon as you realize that you can’t meet the deadline, this shows that you’re responsible and professional. Then don’t just say you can’t do it. Suggest ways to fix the problem, like extending the deadline, or getting help from others. Remember, I said earlier that we’re not an island. And it’s okay to ask for help sometimes. Then, give updates by keeping everyone informed about your progress. This will build trust and show you’re working hard and making meaningful progress.
TIME-MANAGEMENT RESOURCES:
Now, you know I can’t leave without sharing some awesome tools that you can use to manage your time and keep you on track with your project deadlines. For full disclosure, though, I need to let you know that, while I heard of most of these tools, I have only used a couple of them. So, I will leave the in-depth analysis to you. The added perk is that many of them have free or trial versions, so you can give them a test drive. That way you won’t have to spend any money out of pocket to use them a little before you decide if any will work well for you.
The first one is Trello, is a project management application that allows you to visually organize projects into boards. According to its site, Trello “tells you what’s being worked on, who’s working on what, and where something is in a process.” It goes on to describe it as being like a white board filled with sticky notes, that each act as a task… It offers a forever free plan that includes unlimited cards and other limited functionality.
Then there’s Airtable. It helps you and your team streamline tasks, manage workflows and communication. I use Airtable’s free plan, which has limited features, but I enjoy it. I like the ability to automate workflows and to integrate it with other platforms that I use regularly. I’m thinking of enrolling in the entry level paid plan to see if think it’s worth the spend.
I haven’t used Monday.com, but have heard great things about it. It helps you track projects and workflows. I heard that it may remind you somewhat of Microsoft Project.
In addition to project management tools, you can use time management apps to enlighten you on how you efficiently you utilize your time. Please know that I have not used these, but I plan to check them out soon.
RescueTime, which offers a two-week free trial, is another highly-recommended tool. It is a true time-management tool. I have not used it; however, my understanding is that it monitors your activities and shows how productive you are.
If you’re like me and get easily distracted by the next shiny new object, Forest might be your new best friend. Forest is an app that you can download from the Google Play or App Stores. It encourages focus, by growing a virtual tree while you work. This one sounds really neat, so I’m gonna have to try it.
Some other focus tools include focus@will and brain.fm both use music to boost focus and help you concentrate. Finally, Noisli, uses background noise to help you stay focused, like white noise, because sometimes we just need that little atmospheric addition to help us feel like we have company while we’re working.
If you need help prioritizing your tasks, there are several techniques that you can use to Some techniques that you can use include the Eisenhower productivity matrix, and it helps you decide which tasks on your list are most important by you categorizing your tasks. The “do it now” tasks are those deemed to be important and urgent. Ignore it tasks are not urgent and are not important. There are other categories in between. Using this tool can help you really focus on what really matters.
The Pomodoro timer technique is another route to task and time management. This technique lets you work for 25 minutes, then take a five minute break. And after four work sessions take a longer break. And this helps you to stay focused as well because it gives your brain those little ebbs and flows where you’re concentrating intently on the work that you’re doing. Then you take a little break. So you can have a breather and your brain can kind of refresh itself and rejuvenate during that five minute break before you get back to it.
Or try going back in time and using time blocks, to schedule specific times for different tasks. For example, work from nine to 11am, then have meetings from 11am to 12pm. I encourage my team to have office hours or Do Not Disturb hours to minimize interruptions . That allows us time to concentrate on writing reports and working on projects undisturbed. As you can see, this approach helps you to manage your time wisely as well.
As you can imagine, there are many others that you can find by searching online. So, search and find your ideal resource.
Although it should go without saying, I encourage you to also stay positive. I am an firm believer that a positive mindset can help you to conquer any challenge…including meeting deadlines. Practice gratitude to stay positive. Keep it simple by thinking about what you’re thankful for today. This can help you focus on all the good things in your life. Encourage yourself with positive words. This is called positive self talk. Remind yourself that you can do this, no matter what the challenge is. It’s not bigger than you and more importantly, is not bigger than God.
Celebrate successes, like when you finish a task or meet a deadline. This can keep you motivated. And let’s say you’re one of those people who’s addicted to social media. If you celebrate after you meet a deadline, you can take a little break and browse your social media for five minutes as a reward. And like I said, remember that challenges are a part of life and they just make us stronger and better when we meet them head-on.
IN CONCLUSION:
Remember, it takes time to get good at anything. So this is not going to be any different. Meeting deadlines is a skill you can learn if it doesn’t come to you naturally. So be patient with yourself. Give yourself grace, and keep trying. You just don’t want to give up because you get better at things when you do things over and over again. Practice, as its said, can make “perfect.” Understand why deadlines matter, prioritize your work, manage your time, fight procrastination, communicate well, take care of yourself, learn from your mistakes, use helpful tools, and stay positive.
You’ve got this now. Go out there and conquer those deadlines.
Remember, I’m on a mission to help you live your very best career life. So I love it if you would like, share, and subscribe to my channel. Share the video with others who want to live their very best career life. Your doing so will spread the word and help me to help others.
I look forward to your joining me for future posts.
Career Success to You!
