Mamas On The Web

Set yourself a deadline

May 30th, 2007

It’s amazing how powerful deadlines can be.

I used to work at my local newspaper where everything depends on deadlines. There were deadlines to submit ads, deadlines to finish financial reports, deadlines for sending in news stories, deadlines for delivering the paper.

Now that I’m working at home, I don’t have all these tight deadlines to adhere by. That doesn’t mean that I still don’t use them though. They may not be as strict as when I worked at the paper, but I still do my best to stick to them.

Creating deadlines for yourself and making sure you complete your tasks on time can be a huge secret of success for you, especially if you are your own boss. It gives a sense of accountability that otherwise might not be there for someone who works at home.

The trick with creating your own deadlines is to make them challenging, but not impossible. You should also figure out ahead of time a ‘punishment’ for not meeting your deadline. I love to buy shoes, but if I miss a deadline I don’t allow myself to buy any more until I make up for the work I skipped out on. It also helps to have a buddy to help you stay on track. This could be a friend or family member, or even someone you met online.

There’s something about knowing that you only have a certain amount of time to finish something that really makes you get your butt in gear. I find that things also get done a lot quicker, leaving more time for other things like spending time with family.

Set yourself some deadlines and see how it works for you.

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Entry Filed under: working efficiently