Parkinson’s law dictates that a task will expand to fit the time given. Therefore, if you said you had 1 hour to read this post, even though it would clearly take less than 5, you would end up procrastinating for 55 minutes before actually finishing the post.
Tis why deadlines are so important.
Write an Ebook in 2 Weeks
Recently, I set about creating an info-product. Previously when creating these products I wouldn’t set myself a deadline. Instead, I thought I would be uber productive and simply aim to write 1000 words in a day. This was the wrong way to go about things. The product creating process dragged on and it took months to finish the product.
This time was different however. I decided to set myself a deadline just 2 weeks away. After setting the deadline, I then broke down how much work was needed to effectively reach the deadline in time. And 2 weeks later the ebook was done.
Set Short Term Deadlines
Deadlines work best when they are just around the corner. Deadlines that are set months away, tend to be forgotten and you lose that vital sense of urgency.
For individual tasks, set deadlines of a few hours. For projects set a deadline in a week or two. Any longer and a deadlines loses its effectiveness.
Reminders
Of course deadlines only work when you remember them. So set yourself regular reminders to make sure the deadline stays fresh in your memory. (Of course, you should use my own app Task.fm 
)
Push Your Limits
You’re probably a lot more productive than you think you are. By default, businesses and corporations are unproductive environments, and if you work in a corporate job, statistics show you spend less than 20% of your time their actually doing any work.
Setting yourself smart deadlines could be the easiest and fastest way to becoming more productive.
Let me know your thoughts.
Photo By – laffy4k
10 Comments
I’m currently working on a book Anthony and I think it’s time to set some self imposed deadlines of it, I currently have none.
This is some really helpful advice right now- thanks
Looking forward to seeing your book…..in the next few weeks maybe?
You’re right Anthony–long term goals don’t have the edge that short terms do. There’s that urgency you can’t shake off for the short term deadlines.
I should give myself a boost by trying something like this.
I tend not to stick to self-imposed deadlines, definitely something I need to work on..
Hey Anthony,
I agree – deadlines are important. I like to use a combination of both – a deadline, plus daily milestones (e.g., 1000 words a day). Otherwise I *still* am tempted to procrastinate, but if I give myself daily milestones along with a deadline, I make progress every day, and then still have an actual date to finish by
Though my deadline estimating is also hit or miss
Good advice Anthony,
Very impressive putting together an eBook in only two weeks.
What stops us from setting deadlines is fear of making a commitment. Once you finally commit to something, setting a deadline is the easy part.
Keep it up!
I’m actually a fan of unreasonable deadlines. I realized that the more urgent the deadline, the more intense my motivation and thus, the more productive I am capable of being.
Even if I must work all through the night, the thought of completing something today or by tomorrow instead of five or ten or thirty days in the future, is attractive enough to motivate me to achieve whatever it is I’ve set my mind to.
I am currently working on a ebook at the moment and had not set any guidelines, so it has been taking it’s time. I think I will have to take your advice and set a tight goal (probably a week). Otherwise it will never get done.
I’ve heard this advice so many times before but this post was just the motivation (and reminder) I needed to set a deadline for my first ebook. No more procrastinating! Thanks!
I had myself issues with deadlines however its hard until one realizes how easy in fact it is to meet them. It is nothing more than just keeping in the loop trying not to get disrupted and mainly not to worry about time that is remaining until the deadline…