When you are an entrepreneur, deadlines will help you to achieve your goals, no matter how big or small they may be. You won’t find instant success in business if you set arbitrary deadlines. You need deadlines that will help you achieve success. They must be strategically planned.
The goal of strategic deadlines is to help you move towards your goals each day, week and month. This allows you to experience small victories along the way rather than painting a big target that’s months away, which will only increase your stress. For most people, deadlines are the biggest cause of stress, anxiety, and panic.
Do you remember the three-day sleepless marathon that you had to endure in order to complete a 20-page paper on time? Remember that crazy week in the office where your team had to work extra hours to impress a client?
Many people become so stressed in these situations that they start to show signs of a shortened temper, which can have negative results for all. Some people, on the other hand, get tunnel vision. They only focus on achieving their goal and ignore all other priorities. The gripping effect deadlines have on our professional life is no secret.
There’s always an easier way to do things. Here’s why deadlines aren’t something to be feared, but rather something you should embrace. One, deadlines show that you are still in business. If you set deadlines strategically, they can inspire, motivate, and give you a sense of purpose and excitement instead of fear.
You don’t need to worry about deadlines. This is mainly negative psychology, planning fallacy or procrastination. In fact, reasonable deadlines that are strategic do the opposite. Strategic deadlines are crucial for entrepreneurs.
Deadlines hold you accountable for goals
Few things can grab the attention of people like deadlines. They help to define the purpose and timeline for any important task. A deadline, whether it’s set by the customer, your manager, or you, brings all parties together to work towards a shared goal.
By setting a deadline for yourself, you can create a critical metric that will determine whether your actions (or inactions) are deemed successful or not. You are solely responsible for the outcome in these situations.
Momentum in the Positive Direction
People who set a strategic deadline tend to strive (however reluctantly) to meet that deadline, because the benefits of success according your definition are often greater than the risks of failure.
The closer the deadline, the more people become agitated and motivated. People tend to take action when they are motivated or agitated. As you gain confidence and become more comfortable with deadlines, your nervousness will gradually turn into excitement.
Positive action, no matter how small, will bring you closer to your goal. The more you progress towards meaningful milestones, you’ll feel more confident about the outcome. After you have established your pace, the only thing left to do is keep up the momentum.
Spur Innovation and Creativity
A deadline can be a challenge for those who are driven by success and an opportunity to create value. Success-driven entrepreneurs use deadlines to achieve excellence, whether it’s for delivering work ahead of schedule to clients or submitting a product that exceeds customer expectations.
Motivated individuals use their creativity and management skills to redesign their workflows and resource allocations to complete the task faster and surpass expectations. Steve Jobs, a well-known leader who set “impossible” deadlines to get the most creative and innovative energy from his employees. Many entrepreneurs are using deadlines to their advantage when negotiating business deals.
Prioritize what’s most important
Deadlines have a direct impact on your time and everyone else’s. They force you to prioritize your tasks so you can only work on the objectives that will get you closer to your goals. It’s important to prioritize your most important milestones, and to say no to everything else.
You’ll end up wasting time by scrolling through your Facebook page, sifting your inbox or juggling other tasks that will cause you to produce poorly executed and planned results for what’s most important. If you do not ruthlessly prioritise how you spend your time – which deadlines you need to meet – you will be a mediocre worker and you won’t make it on time.
Avoids Making Promises You Can’t Keep
You don’t need to agree to every deadline. If you feel that a deadline is unrealistic and you are unable to meet it, you should push back.
Some deadlines may be too lax and allow you to relax, not forcing you to think creatively about how to achieve your goal. You should also evaluate your strengths and weakness in relation to the deadlines that you are given and your own deadline setting process.
You should always aim for the sweet spot, where deadlines encourage you to act, and not be lazy, as well as where they inspire creativity rather than cramming. If you are a “solopreneur”, working directly with your clients, or if you have multiple employees working for you, you should always manage expectations when it comes deadlines. Never make promises that you cannot keep.
Accept Failures, and keep Moving Forward
Some people want near-perfect results in their business, career or craft. It’s not necessarily bad because it can push you to overcome your personal and professional limits. Perfection can become a roadblock to your progress if it creeps into all aspects of your decision making process.
When you have a deadline to meet, you are forced to put your desire for perfection on hold. Meeting your deadline is more important than tweaking your results endlessly. Repeat this process enough times, and it will become a part of your routine.
You may need to sacrifice some features temporarily to meet your deadline. Your deliverable will be reduced to the absolute minimum viable (MVP). Deadlines force journalists and writers to focus on finishing an article, not polishing the paragraph.
Increase Your Confidence
Meeting deadlines consistently can make you and your team feel more confident over time. Shipping products and getting them into the world will give you the confidence to not only take on new customers and responsibilities, but to also explore and learn new techniques.
Prime You for Success
The ability to meet deadlines is a reliable metric for assessing performance–especially in the world of business if you’re selling yourself as a service. Setting personal deadlines can be a crucial part of your personal and professional success, even if you’re not working. According to Brian Tracy, bestselling author and keynote speaker, setting deadlines can increase the chances of success up to 11.5 times.
Set Deadlines that Work for You
Some deadlines can hinder the achievement of a successful outcome. The fact is that unreasonable deadlines, along with procrastination and poor time management as well as other factors, may contribute to the high number of companies (52%) who fail to meet deadlines. Consider these tips to ensure your deadlines will help you achieve positive results over and over again.
- Adopt the SMART framework (Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-bound) or a similar strategy to set strategic goals. Be sure to set specific, attainable goals for all stakeholders in the project. This will ensure that everyone is held responsible.
- By involving everyone and asking for their input on the best way to schedule a project or task, you can set reasonable milestones with corresponding deadlines. The deadline should not be too difficult or too easy.
- If you miss the deadline, give yourself rewards or penalties.
- If you do not deal directly with customers, you should involve the appropriate people in the process of setting deadlines so you and your team can be held accountable for meeting those deadlines.
A deadline may be painful, but it is an effective way to get things done. Use it to motivate people, clarify your purpose and bring about positive change.
