Deadlines are a rough all things considered. Schools need your work turned in on time. Workplaces have deadlines for products they are creating or presentations they are giving. Cats have deadlines for how long you are allowed to sleep in. The world revolves around deadlines, so you better get used to them very soon. Here are some tips to manage deadlines in the workplace so all of our deliverables are on time!
Get a Planner!
This is seriously the end-all-be-all of keeping track of your time. Unless you have a photographic memory, I really suggest getting some sort of planner. Whether it be hand-written or some kind of Google notification, get something to keep track of your time. Personally, I use this for two different purposes. The first is to track my deadlines: when homework is due, when I need to give presentations, and when my work deliverables are due. The second purpose I have for my planner is tracking my time at work. Being a part of a company that does a lot of contract work, we have to keep tight control of our hours and this has been the most effective way of keeping my daily hours in check.
Plan out your Day
I promise that you have enough time in your day to get that one thing done. How often are you watching a 20 minute episode of the Office on Peacock or scrolling away on Instagram. 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there really starts to add up. Over the course of weeks or months, this could add up to hours or even days in some circumstances! What could you do if you were given an extra 5 hours every day? Well, this could be the key to finding those hours. Plan out your day, when you will do things and when you will be free to have some you time. In this words of Jocko Willink, discipline equals freedom. The more time you have, the more often you are going to meet your deadlines.
Distractions
This is the pitfall of humanity. Distractions are everywhere: cute cat photos on Reddit, talking on the phone with your friend for 30 minutes, Netflix. It’s hard to cut these out of your life! Well, what if I said you didn’t have to? There is something called the Pomodoro Technique. You work on what you need to get done for 20 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. Then repeat until you are done with your task. The key is to do whatever distractions you want to do for those 5 minutes. Set a timer so you don’t take too long during your break! And pro tip: if you’re distracted while working, write down what is distracting you and come back to it during your break. Most of the time you’ll realize the distraction was nothing.
