Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it? Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of?
When I have a deadline “keep calm and plan is my motto.” I plan my timetable to make sure the job gets done on time and I allow enough extra time for life to get in the way as it invariably does. I cannot work all through the night to get the job done as my head doesn’t work when I am tired—I need a plan. I break my task down into small achievable chunks that I can join together to succeed.
For me the secret is working out a way that I can look after myself by doing everything I want to and still meet the deadline. Recently I have been given a weekly deadline at work for one of my managers reports each week. As this was initially thrown upon me I struggled the first week but got the job done. Moving forward I plan my week around long and short days depending on what night I am attending Toastmasters. Each week the task is getting easier and I feel myself getting more organised as a result.
Another secret I have for dealing with deadlines is to complete the most difficult task first. I find this takes up the most time and once the difficult task is completed I am usually on the home stretch which motivates me to keep going.