deborah dera

I have a confession to make. I have been known, on occasion, to push my writing deadlines to the last minute. It’s not because I don’t have time to get to the projects, and it’s not because I didn’t start them in time. I always start my projects early, but sometimes I attempt to multi-task a bit too much, or I’m trying to get extra work done to meet a financial goal. Shoot – maybe I even spend a bit too much time on Facebook or checking email. As a result, I am turning my work in on time, or at the last minute, but rarely very early.

I find, for the most part, this pertains to one particular project that I work on. I don’t know if it is my familiarity with the client, my ability to be flexible, or my knowledge of the real inside deadlines. Truth be told, I’d prefer to turn all of my work in early. It’s something I’m working on. I do, however, meet the deadlines. And, if something comes up – like illness or a  bad weather power knockout – I always communicate the potential for a problem in advance.

Unfortunately, I have also found myself in the position of editor.  OK – wait. That’s actually not an unfortunate position to be in. The unfortunate part is that, whether I’m working on my own projects or those I’ve been asked to handle by others, I rarely get work from the writers I deal with by the deadlines I assign. I hesitate to say it, but it’s almost never. They don’t even push their deadlines to the last minute. They’re just bypassing them altogether.

So here’s the rub. We all get busy. We all get a bit overwhelmed from time to time. The problem? Writing is your job and you need to take your work seriously. If you are always missing deadlines, I have no choice but to conclude that you do not take your work with me seriously.

Seriously.

Breaking a deadline is a freelancing sin.

Missing a deadline tells your clients quite a bit:

• It tells them you have overextended yourself, and that you probably won’t have time for future work.
• Missing a deadline leads your clients to believe you have poor time management and/or organization skills.
• Not hitting, or even acknowledging, a deadline shows you don’t care – at least not about that project or client.

There are, of course, things you can do to make sure you meet every deadline you encounter:

• Keep a list of all of your ongoing projects and their deadlines. Calculate how much time it will take you to complete those projects and figure out when each one will need to be started in order to finish the project a) early or b) by deadline.
• Make sure you, or your client, have clearly communicated the deadlines in question. If the client assigns a deadline, look at your calendar and determine if there will be conflicts. If so, immediately ask for a change. If you are setting your own deadlines, there are absolutely no excuses for missing them.
• Clarify what each deadline means. If you have a project due on Monday, is it due by the end of the day (midnight), at the start of your client’s workday (8am), or at the end of the client’s workday (5pm)? Don’t assume that the assignment of a deadline means you can push your work off until the late evening hours. Your client probably spent the entire day hoping to see your work appear.
• Look at your schedule and block time each day for every project you have on your plate. Blocking time ensures you’ll get the job done and helps you to avoid distractions.
• Avoid overcommitment. If you take on too much work you’ll have trouble getting it all done in time, and what you do turn in will not be your best work.

Think of it this way. When you work in a corporate office there is a chain of command and if there is a problem at the top, it rolls downhill, causing everyone else problems. Missing a deadline does the same thing. You miss your deadline; the person waiting for your work misses his deadline; and an entire project is thrown offline. And guess what! You’re the guy at the top that made it all happen!

I’m going to be blunt. Procrastination is a bitch, and the stress associated with pushing yourself to deadline isn’t good for you. Even if you enjoy putting things off until the last minute, it’s eventually going to backfire on you – causing you to find yourself in a tough situation or, in the worst case scenario, losing you a client altogether.

Is frequently missing deadlines really worth that sort of risk?