If you’re a frequent reader of the Clouds you’ll know I promise you a post every Monday. Today is no different. You’ll know I do this for a few reasons… The first, is that it provides consistency. You know when to check in with my blog, you know the schedule, you know when there’s something new to have a perusal of. The second, closely related, point is that it provides me a deadline. I’m a master procrastinator, it’s what I do. Give me an important task and you can bet I’ll do it… tomorrow…. or the next day… or the day it’s due… or maybe a couple of days late, because that deadline wasn’t strict right? It’s a bad habit but it’s a habit only I can really break.
The best thing I can do is set myself a deadline and try to stick to it. That’s why I make a promise to post every Monday, and as much as I’d like to say it’s for you lot, it’s really for myself. The thing is, deadlines can be both a blessing and a curse, but for me the blessings outweigh the curses.
Without a deadline you wouldn’t be reading this post. Not only because I wouldn’t have a subject for this post, it’d be a blank page right now, but also because I wouldn’t have gotten around to writing this. See, I’m writing this well in advance of it’s scheduled date because, right now, all my writing time is being dedicated to NaNoWriMo (he says, secretly hoping he can rely on his future self after scheduling this post). Without being adamant I needed a post to go live today, without knowing I’d be letting myself down if I missed today, and without taking into account how busy I am around now with NaNoWriMo and other things (including Weddings: both planning and attending) I simply wouldn’t have a post for you today.
NaNoWriMo itself is a kind of deadline. First and foremost, of course, it’s a challenge designed to help us hit a wordcount each day. I wrote last week about Challenges and how they can help us grow: The Beauty of Challenge. However, in it’s rawest form it’s a deadline; it’s “write this many words before midnight“, it’s “write this many words before the end of the month“. For what it’s worth, I’m probably not going to subscribe too strictly to the wordcount laws of NaNoWriMo; if I’ve written anything at all each day it’ll be a success of some sort.
I know not everyone sees things this way. I know that some people are more motivated than me and deadlines simply exist to limit them, to be a cause for anxiety and to be unnecessarily harsh on something they want full freedom in. I’m here to present the other perspective; that some of us need them to actually achieve anything at all. Freedom to create is a beautiful thing, but it also comes with the freedom to delay and freedom to procrastinate. I need structure, as much as I sometimes loathe it. I need deadlines, lest I fail time and time again. That’s why I write a post for each Monday, that’s why I give myself a deadline to hit.
Further Reading:
Clockwork Clouds 
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As a PA in my real life job, I live my work life by deadlines, it’s an excellent way to schedule and organise. I’m in the process of introducing it to my blog life. Kudos to you, for keeping it up AND keeping it interesting 🙂
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I definitely think a schedule and some organisation goes a long, long way!
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Deadlines, like goals, are things to give us structure but they aren’t meant to enslave us (unless, of course, they are someone else’s deadlines, someone who is paying us to meet them). Show me a person without deadlines, and I’ll show you a person who probably doesn’t get much accomplished….
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Great last line there! I completely agree. I think they’re a necessary evil, in a way. We grow up seeing deadlines as these awful things at school, where our work needs to be due, where there’s repercussions for lack of success… I feel we’re trained to dislike them. When used right, they can be a force for good and make us all the more productive!
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I am a structured creature and need my deadlines as I need to know what needs to be done when. If I do not write it down in my daytimer then I am lost and nothing will be done. Deadlines for me please and thank you as I work better under pressure.
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I am very much the same. If I don’t plan for it, it doesn’t happen. If I mark the time out in my planner for it, then I’ll actually get it done. If I give myself an inch I sadly end up taking a dozen miles… A day without plans, for me, turns into a day where nothing at all gets accomplished (but don’t get me wrong, I love me a lazy day!)
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Lazy days is needed, but I am a creature of structure and need to know how, when, what and where.
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Hmmm…I seem to be different to the rest of you. I sort of rebel and lose all motivation with deadlines. I much prefer to just write when I am excited to write.
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I think that’s a great way to be! And it’s an awesome example of how different all our experiences are. I can certainly write when I’m excited for an idea, in fact my best articles happen that way, but without an overhead deadline I find myself falling behind… I’m far too prone to laziness!
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I need a deadline.. it focuses me😊
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Exactly the same. It’s like keeping that end goal in view and not straying too far from it!
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I’m similar to you. I like deadlines to help me focus on what I need to do and when I need to do it by. I suspect I could work without deadlines as I can motivate myself when needed, but that bit of “pressure” helps me 🙂
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I wish I could work without them, that pressure is the only thing that keeps me going! Haha.
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I am definitely a fan of deadlines. (But now I want to know where the word “deadline” comes from–its sort of dark and mysterious.) Even when they’re just targets I set for myself, like you, having the commitment makes a difference. Studies have been done about the different behavior people exhibit after reading an honor pledge or signing their name to something. These small acts are reminders that we’re putting something of value on the line. Our integrity, our word, our bond. These things matter. Of course, being a stubborn goat about it isn’t a really good idea all the time, but having a fixed timeframe, making a commitment and putting my personal “stamp” on it–even if no one else is watching–means something to me.
Good for you on NaNo! I’m hoping to see more writing from you soon (hint hint.)
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Deadlines are great to get that bulk done! Self imposed ones are great because it’s just you that you will disappoint! And I don’t mean ‘just ‘ you… you are the most important person to please!
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I sometimes feel like I don’t hold myself accountable enough! Disappointing myself has become an all too regular occurrence… Wow, that sounded quite negative, haha! Hopefully I’m being that little bit stricter with myself recently! I could certainly do with it!
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Lol! You can do it Shaun!!!
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I can certainly try!
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I could have written this post! I work well with deadlines also and the busier I am the more I get done as more focus. I’m doing NaNo also this year and trying to pull posts together for blog. Had a few in draft so lucky there at least for this Monday. Good luck with NaNo and yeah to a deadline. We so have this!!!
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It’s funny that… The busier you are the more you get done. I’m very much the same. They do say if you need something doing, give it to someone busy (butchered that quote but still). I think it’s about momentum. When you have one task to do, it can be very hard to just start, but if you have ten tasks, or at least a few tasks following each other, you get into a flow…
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