Do These Things and Never Miss Another Deadline ...

One of the most effective ways of beating your deadlines is to set your own. Turn it into a habit that you viciously enforce. Set your deadline days and/or weeks in advance of the true deadline. Stick to your own deadline as if it were the final deadline for your work. It dramatically reduces the amount of procrastination you may have otherwise endured, and it is surprising how much control you feel it gives you. You’ll find it easier to set your own deadlines if you diligently create to-do lists.

Maybe this is a silly tip, but the truth is that many people cannot let go of their distractions. The sheer amount of students that leave their phones on, social media profiles open, TVs and music on is staggering. Some people seem unable to exist without some form of distraction, and there is a very strong chance that you are one of these people.

If you are realistic about how long something will take, then you are better able to plan. Once you realize that your project may take a long time, you are able to break it down into doable sessions. That to-do list you created will help you visualize exactly what time is needed and where the pinch points are.

One of the best ways to meet your deadline is via focused and routine attention to your task. This is okay for a while, but many women experience some form of burnout where they are suddenly sapped of all their motivation. Suddenly, their task becomes a horrible chore in their mind and they are unable to push themselves to complete it. Before you schedule a long session, consider how it will affect your motivation and how likely it is to cause a burnout.

If you a repeating a task or process and it never goes as quickly as you’d like, examine closely what you’re doing. How can you make it better? Where can you shave off time without compromising quality? Would better tools help? This applies to work, home and play. Few things in life are perfect so you don’t have to be super creative to identify where improvements can be made.

You should keep your arbitrary (self-created) deadline in mind, and you may keep your goals in mind by checking your to-do list. It is really as simple as that. Do this competently, and you will find it more difficult to miss your deadlines.

Creating a plan for your time has many benefits, and one of the strongest is the fact you are able to refer back to your plan (your to-do list). This is handy both in the moment because it keeps you on track, and in the future when you come back to continue and finish your task. It helps you stay on point.

Many women fail to take advantage of the power of planning- simply because they disconnect the idea and think it applies to work only. If you plan for seamless days, success is easier to achieve.

How are you with deadlines? Do you make to-do lists?