Deadlines Have Merit

When I was in school, deadlines were a part of everyday life. Assignments were due on a certain date, projects had to be turned in at a certain time, and speeches had to be given on a certain day. To some degree, I didn’t like these deadlines, as they stressed me out and didn’t always allow me to work on the project on my own time, in my own pace. However, there is some merit to having deadlines in your life.

For almost two years now, I have written an article, and turned it in on a Friday morning. I think I can honestly say that if I did not have that deadline of Friday morning, I wouldn’t turn them in as much. I love writing these articles, but there will always be that procrastinating part of my brain that, if I do have lenience on when something needs to be done, will urge me to put it off.

This is a common occurrence in my life. Whenever there is something that I need to do, whether it is piano practice, math packets, or even extra writing, I will put it off as long as I can. The only time this doesn’t happen is when I give myself a deadline. I tell my brain, “You need to be done with this by the end of the day.” Or, if that fails, I will tell myself, “Self, you are going to get started on this in one hour.” I find that if I set up a time to work, I’m more mentally prepared, and it gets done faster.

Deadlines Motivate

However, I find that in some parts of my life, deadlines just don’t work. There are some things in life that you can’t put a due date on. For example, my writing doesn’t just work when I want it to. I don’t know how many times I have sat down to write an article, only to find that it just isn’t working. I know that I have a deadline to make, but for some reason, the words just aren’t translating from my brain to my hands. When this happens, deadline or no deadline, I have to take a step back.

With all of these things, the most important thing isn’t the deadline or a set time to work on it. The most important thing is to work on it. You can’t rely on deadlines to motivate you on whatever you are trying to accomplish. Deadlines might be a helpful motivator, but in the end, you are the one who has control on what you finish. See you next week!

“Reprinted from Hagel Publications, Inc. dba as Courier Newspapers”