How to stick to goals and meet deadlines
What’s in it?
- Introduction
- Get to know yourself
- Design a system and stick to it
- Buy a planner and actually use it
- Keep it where you can see it
- Be accountable to someone else
- Conclusion
Introduction
Almost everyone has had problems sticking to goals and meeting deadlines at one point or another—it’s a common problem plaguing the majority of the population and 99.999998% of all high schoolers. Over the years of self-directed study I’ve picked up a couple pointers that I’m eternally grateful for, and in this article I hope to share these with you.
Staying ahead of things is not hard if you know how to arrange things. Above all, it’s a matter of commitment to your cause, whether it be loosing 20 pounds in a two months or writing a stellar essay by Friday. Between the commitment and completion, however, is where often goes awry…
Get to know yourself
As Elle Woods from Legally Blonde once wisely said, “You have all the right equipment; you just need to read the manual”. Though certainly not used in the same context, I believe this tidbit of wisdom applies even to subject of sticking to goals and meeting deadlines. Many people never take time to simply get to know themselves, and as a result, they are not working nearly as efficiently as they could be.
When it comes to you and your deadline-meeting past, how do you cope? Do you work better under pressure, or under free rein? Do you procrastinate until last minute and always end up putting less than 100% into your work, or do you start right away and lose motivation quickly? Observe your habits. You can’t change what you don’t know.
I also recommend taking simple tests to find out more about yourself. While their accuracy is debatable, in my experience they usually present a result that is at least 50% (or more) accurate – and coincidentally, you should probably be able to pick out the incorrect points right away regardless. At the very least, they ask stimulating questions that aim to make you more aware of yourself and how you work.
Recommended tests:
Taking these tests is only half of it. Read up on what the site has to say about your results and if you’re interested in learning more, google your results or type (e.g. “left-brained” or “ENTJ”) to look for articles that expound on them.
Design a system and stick to it
Behind every efficient machine there is a system that works to keep it that way. Much like “bedtime rituals” that some people follow in order to get into a sleepy mood, many successful people have a system that works for them and keep them working at peak potential.
Design a system of processes for yourself that will put you in “motivation mode”. This could be anything, but it’s different for every person. Find out what works and what doesn’t by observing how you meet and respond to deadlines, then go from there. If you’re at a loss for ideas, consider the following:
- Listen to classical music when you work. Studies suggest that it puts your brain in optimum creativity mode, which is perfect if you have a essay due the next morning and find yourself at a loss for ideas.
- Find your top source(s) of motivation. If you’re a web designer, CSS Galleries are bound to inspire. If you’re an artist, browsing an art gallery could help get the spark of inspiration going. We’re surrounded by inspiration – you just need to stop and really pay attention to see it. Find something that is guarenteed to motivate you and work with it.
- Start out right. Get a good night’s sleep, keep hydrated, and eat regular meals. You may be surprised at what a difference paying attention to your health can do for your productivity and motivation.
- Keep a planner. Track your assignments, goals, and deadlines on this nifty organizational tool. (See below)
- Find your optimal time of day. Some people work best in the early morning, while some work best late at night. What time of the day do you find yourself at your peak? If at all possible, once you find your optimal time of day, adjust your schedule in such a way to accomodate the hardest workload during those hours.
Buy a planner and actually use it
You can’t remember everything. Buy a planner and clearly mark all deadlines on the monthly calendars as well as the individual day or week page of the deadline. Highlight if necessary. Then, write “warning” messages of the upcoming deadline on the days in the week ahead. This way, you won’t ever find yourself completely forgetting deadlines.
Treat your planner as your lifeline and refer to it every day. If you track your life on paper where you can see it, (especially important if you happen to be a visual or kinetic learner!) you will probably find yourself more organized, giving you more time for the things you enjoy.
Keep it where you can see it
As the old addage goes, “Out of sight, out of mind” – though certainly not true for everyone, I know for a fact that many people will simply forget things if they don’t have reminders of them daily.
Keep your goals and deadlines out where you can see them – on your calendar, in your planner, written in huge letters on a piece of paper stuck on the fridge, on a post-it note on your corkboard, etc. Make sure they’re always visable to engrain them in your mind. You have far less chances of forgetting them, and the constant sight of them does well to motivate you to meet and complete them.
Be accountable to someone else
I cannot stress the importance of accountability enough: use it! Being accountable to others is an invaluable source of motivation and an excellent way to keep yourself on track.
How it works
Find a responsible person to hold you accountable to your task. An ideal person would be someone who knows you well, like a best friend, spouse or parent – someone who won’t fall for your lies or “get-out-quickly” techniques.
Ask this person to inquire frequently how you’re doing with your task. If your task is long and requires much time, let them know ahead of time where and when you plan to be with certain parts of task after a certain amount of time (e.g. “1/4 done per day”). If your task is fairly short and can be completed in one sitting (like a two-page essay, for example), ask them to “check on you” a day or two before the task is to be complete.
Accountability is often done in partnerships, where parties of two or more are all working on similar tasks (like building a photography portfolio, or running 1 kilometer in 2 minutes) and check in frequently with one another to motivate each other and keep everyone “accountable” to the task at hand. If there is someone you can be accountable with (a classmate or friend who is has a similar task to yours, for example), take the opportunity to be accountability partners. It’s more fun and benefits someone as well as yourself that way.
Why it works
Most people will do something faster, and often better, if they have someone they respect, admire, or plain “just don’t want to look bad in front of” to report back to. This is magnified when the circle of accountability widens from one person to more than one. As a result, this is why being accountable to a best friend or mentor works far better for some than being accountable to a teacher they don’t particularly care for – it is often a matter of having to look good or appear a certain way that will ultimately motivate them to work faster and better.
Conclusion
Work hard, reject failure and accept temporary setbacks. There are no magical set of rules in life that will keep your life running 100% perfect, 100% of the time, but there are guidelines that help immesely. Always strive to improve on quality, time, and efficiency, and always be open and willing to re-evaluating and improving your methods.
thank you so much for the wonderful article! i have a lot of deadlines to meet soon and needed some motivation to get through the next week. your article was really helpful and i will definitely try to incorporate the things i learnt from it.
December 29th, 2007 at 12:28 pmWow. I think these tips will help a lot with my procrastination, Thanks!
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January 8th, 2009 at 6:04 amI still can’t meet deadlines! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
March 29th, 2009 at 1:29 pmThanks for the article! I’d been struggling to meet deadlines recently, making excuse after excuse. There’s nothing radically different that you prescribed, and I think the genius is that you kept it simple. Thanks again, best of luck!
June 10th, 2009 at 9:13 amwheres the nifty organizational tool??? overall great advice, thanks!
September 18th, 2009 at 8:18 amYou also have to remember the nature of the work being done. If its creative it may take more time. Also, if the person doesn’t feel their time is invested wisely doing this, it will go on the backburner.
If they could make $10 an hour doing something else, even if they make $400 total from this project but at $6 an hour, they will do the $10/hour project first, if only so that they can meet their obligations.
I’m forever having to deal with this as I have an artist who seems to never want to produce her work on time. *sigh*
November 14th, 2009 at 10:15 amI’m always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please keep on churning out the content. It’s very entertaining.
December 15th, 2009 at 4:19 pm