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People get stressed and frazzled at work and one reason why is because they’re having some trouble meeting deadlines. If you feel this way, then you'll need to learn how to improve your time management skills.
If you’re going to achieve any goal, big or small, learning to meet deadlines will help you significantly. What you need are the right strategies to be successful at completing your work before the deadline.
There are several effective strategies for meeting deadlines that you can employ for this and we discuss some of this below.
- Set goals realistically
At the start of the week, write down one or a couple of goals that you want to achieve for the week. Then break them down into larger and smaller goals. For instance, if you set a goal to write an article for the week, your small goal could be to search for information online, while the big goal is writing your final article draft. The large goals are the ones that require more time and the smaller goals help you achieve, the larger goal. Then set a realistic time target to complete these goals. This will ensure that you’re more organized and spend your week more productively.
- Learn to prioritize
Setting your priorities right is essential to reaching and completing your goals. If you have large goals that you need to complete sooner, you should work on them first. People mostly put large goals last because they are intimidated by them. However, it only becomes more intimidating as you put it off.
A hack to dealing with large goals is to break them down into about three small goals and work on each one separately. In the end, they make the whole. Also, psychologically, there’s less stress involved in completing three small goals than a big one.
- Do not procrastinate
Procrastination is one of the main reasons people fail to
meet deadlines. If you procrastinate or fail to remain focused, you should try to create an external deadline or commitment for yourself outside the main commitment. For instance, you can schedule your meeting in three days to present your work. Of course, this means you must have completed it by then. A helpful strategy is to start your day with the hardest or most unpleasant tasks and reward yourself after completing them before moving to the easier ones.
- Create room for eventualities
Too many times, we create plans for ourselves, but things don’t go to plan. This is why it’s a good idea to give room for the possibility of problems or preempt potential issues. For instance, you may need to tackle a task urgently and then break down due to an illness or other emergencies, which affects your schedule and ability to meet deadlines.
When these eventualities happen, they affect your timing and schedules. So, the best way to be in control is to plan for it before you start the project. One way to do this is by briefing a colleague so they can fill in for you if there’s an emergency. However, if you’re delegating tasks, give them to the best hands.
- Have all the necessary resources with you
One of the many things that can slow down
completing your tasks within a deadline is the unavailability of resources. When you lack the resources to do the job at hand, it’s unlikely that you’ll complete it within the given deadline. Having to improvise or even waiting to get the resources may take a chunk of time. So before you take up a task, ensure that you have all the resources needed to complete it on time.
- Minimize interruptions
Constant interruption not only wastes valuable time you should spend at work, but it also breaks the flow of work and makes you slower than you should be. The fewer interruptions you get while working, the more effective and faster you can complete the job. So, a crucial time management skill and effective strategy to beat the deadline is to avoid getting distracted. Put your phone away from you for a start. Don’t answer your phone or be tempted to check your email. Once you break the flow, it’s hard to reestablish.
- Work during your productive time
Everyone has the time of the day when they’re at their peak and are most productive. For some, it’s early in the morning, some afternoon, and others it’s midnight. Discover yours and work during that time. It helps you to be effective and complete your tasks much faster. A vital hack is to do the smaller jobs during your less productive time and focus on the large or complex tasks during your productive time. This will help you maximize your day.
Conclusion The reason for deadlines is to ensure that a project runs smoothly and everyone can work towards a shared goal. Therefore, failing to meet deadlines may defeat this goal. However, if you want to learn to beat the deadline, you need the right attitude, mentality, and effective strategies.
Author Bio
Sherri Carrier is a professional writer and is a member of several writing clubs in New York. She has been writing her poems since she was a child. The young author gets inspiration from her favourite writers and people whom she loves.
