5 Tips to Set Up an Accurate Deadline
So, here’s the thing. You missed deadlines because not only caused by poor execution or lack of skills/resources. Another major factor is didn’t set the right deadlines.
What are the best tips to set an accurate deadline?
Better than confusing or procrastinating, here is 5 tips for make your time management better.
1. Breaking the Project into chunks
Begin by breaking the project down into manageable chunks, creating a list of all the stages that must be performed before the work can be done. Then determine how long each step will take and assign each a sub-deadline. This may seem apparent to those who plan projects in this manner, but a surprising amount of people don’t and instead try to estimate how long the whole process will take rather than looking at the individual parts (and then end up frustrated when they need more time).
2. Timebombs
Imagine you’ll run across problems at the last minute. In my experience managing people, I’ve discovered that many individuals believe, “That draft is due at close of business Wednesday, therefore I’ll write it Wednesday morning, giving me plenty of time.” And it would have if they hadn’t been sick on Wednesday, or had to deal with a client situation, or otherwise couldn’t work on it that day, causing them to miss the deadline. Don’t wait until a deadline approaches; start working on projects well ahead of time, and you’ll be more likely to keep to your timetable (and often have the bonus of finishing up early).
3. Get Input From Others
If you’re setting deadlines for someone else or relying on someone else to complete a piece of work before you can finish yours, be sure the timetables you’re using are realistic. You don’t want to find out weeks into your project schedule that the person you’re counting on to provide data is on vacation the week you thought they’d be able to work on it, or that they have three other priorities that week, or that you simply underestimated the amount of time it will take them to gather the information you require.
4. Reflect With The Past
Does your teacher always take a week to review proofs? Does they tend to have last-minute changes that take time to implement? Assume that may happen again this time, and if at all possible, build time for those occurrences into your timeline.
5. Don’t Let it Pile Up
A task may only take a day to accomplish, but if it comes in the middle of a very busy period with many competing demands, it may take a week or more. You can’t make a realistic timetable in a vacuum; you have to factor in everything else that will be happening at the same time.
Thank you for reading up to this point!
Adios!
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