Deadlines Deserve a Little Love, Too!

By Bob Sadowski, APR, Public Relations & Social Media Manager, ACCO Brands Admit it: Nothing feels better than meeting a deadline and checking another item off your to-do list. So why do we innately despise deadlines? Considering the positive outcomes that result, we should actually LOVE deadlines. There’s a very good reason for looking at deadlines in a positive light. Deadlines offer us structure, and structure, in turn, leads to better productivity. By embracing deadlines, you give yourself a sense of urgency to complete the task while being guided by specific time-limits. No matter if the deadlines are assigned to you, such as a work task or filing taxes, or self-imposed, like cleaning out the kitchen pantry or reaching a particular milestone in your workout regimen, giving them a little love will give you a true sense of accomplishment. There are several steps you can take to help ensure that you can successfully meet your deadlines. With solid planning and scheduling, no reasonably set deadline is out of reach.

List it: You need to be sure to include all deadlines on your task list. Make them more actionable by including descriptive statements on the steps that need to be taken in order to meet each deadline.

Time it: Create a timeline and set milestones and progress points for the deadlines at hand. This will give you a visual of what needs to be done relative to your time allotted for each.

Schedule it: Use a calendar to record and track the timeline points you’ve created. You can think of this as your “project calendar.”

Prioritize it: All deadlines aren’t created equally, nor are they given the same amount of time for completion. While each one is important, spread the wealth evenly throughout your project calendar.

Don’t skip it: You have your timeline and tasks—do your best to stay on schedule. Of course, it’s inevitable that delays or hurdles will disrupt even the best-laid plan. Be sure to make up these missed tasks with additional or previously un-allotted time. You don’t want these to snowball on you!

It seems appropriate that during the week of Valentine’s Day, you show your love for deadlines! Make it a point to follow the steps above and reap the benefits of making your deadlines with time to spare. How do you make sure you meet deadlines? Please share your comments, tips and tricks on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dayrunner. About Day Runner At Day Runner, our mission is to assist people in “designing their day” with a touch of fashion and function. Many products can be configured for individual planning needs. Our loose-leaf day planners allow users the flexibility to easily select the page formats and style that they like and put them where they need those most. Our products are available from many office product retailers and dealers nationwide and can also be found in office supply catalogs. For more information or to order your planning and organizing tools, visit www.dayrunner.com. Photo by angelamaphone (http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelamaphone/)