I am one of those people who thrive on deadlines. Nothing brings on inspiration more readily than desperation. (Harry Shearer)
Have you ever…
Lost track of deadline dates?
Caused yourself, and others, stress by nearly missing a deadline?
Missed out on an opportunity by missing the deadline?
Lack of planning and organisation is a major factor in stress – both work stress and indeed in life stress. There are so many demands on your time which may come from:
- – Managers
- – Colleagues
- – Customers and clients
- – Family
- – Friends
- – The day to day administration of life
Phone calls, faxes, emails, texts – all urge you to reply right away. No wonder it can be hard to keep track of the multiple deadlines such as for reports, meeting agendas, job applications, bills, membership renewals and so on.
Chaos and confusion
So what could cause you to miss a deadline?
It’s helpful to be aware of what we cause ourselves and how much is caused by external factors. What do you recognise?
- – Not having a good system of organisation
- – Having too many papers on your desk
- – Not filing papers away when you’re not working on them
- – Finding a task overwhelming, parking it and then forgetting about it
- – Not knowing where to start and so starting too late
- – Not having a year planner or other recording system for deadlines
- – Putting off a task, again and again, until it’s too late
- – Other people’s poor time management
- – Other people asking you to complete tasks at the last minute
- – Other……
My next two blogs will talk about how – now that you have identified what is distracting you from your deadlines – you make sure that you don’t miss another one.
There are also two pages on my website which give further information. Please visit time management and stress management for additional tips.
