Once a deadline has been contracted and a diagnosis is made,
then all that remains is its treatment. Fortunately there are a number of courses
of action available to reduce deadlines and even make them disappear. Whether a
mild deadline or an acute one, the following prescriptions have been field
tested and proven to provide amazingly successful results.
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| © 2014 Don Arday. |
How To Cope With Deadlines
Know your own limits.
Quite often symptoms with deadlines arise, not from the
deadline itself, but from events such as a schedule shift or a sudden overdose
of work. Assess your own ability to multitask and how much time should be prescribed
in order for you to complete common tasks.
Keep a single schedule of all of your projects.
It’s easy to forget when something occurred or is prescribed
to occur and to loose track of time over extended periods. By utilizing a
single “at a glance” schedule of project due dates, and critical events, it
will be much easier to plan ahead and to administer more than one overlapping job.
Keep all job assets in one place.
Nothing wastes time like having to look for something or
track down a piece of information. Create a job folder for each job and keep
things like notes, reference material, sketches, copy’s of emails, and links to
websites, etc. The folder can be physical or digital.
Keep a log of all contact content and times with clients.
The small details that come along during the course of a job
such as specifications, special stipulations and conditions, or revised project
content can easily be lost in daily distractions. A quick periodic review of
this information can prevent a trauma from occurring as a job progresses.
Separate projects into individual stages.
It is common to suffer from a feeling of being overwhelmed
when a deadline presents itself. By dissecting a job into separate tasks, i.e.,
staged deadlines, it is easier to handle each individual dose, as it is needed.
Think only of the task at hand, as each task is completed, you will advance
closer to finishing the job without anxiety or trauma.
Set daily accomplishment goals.
It is important to your creative well being to set goals and
accomplish them. This can be done on a daily basis. Setting and achieving daily
goals promotes a healthy sense of accomplishment, supports a comforting feeling
of self-confidence, and authenticates the rank of a professional. Additionally,
the establishment of daily goals forms the foundation for longer-term career
goals.
Adhere to a regular work regiment.
It is important to have a healthy work routine. Developing a
consistent work routine is one of the best ways to combat deadline diseases
such as procrastination, deferment, and slow down. A habitual work routine can
be extremely beneficial in increasing job productivity; after all much of what
we do borders on an obsessive-compulsive approach to work.
Set a self-imposed deadline before the actual deadline is
due.
The best way to avoid a surprise and an ensuing panic attack
is to set a self-imposed deadline on an assignment. Not only will a
self-imposed deadline increase your productivity, it will increase your status
when you come to the rescue of a client that has had to rush a deadline.
Use a consistent, organized working methodology.
Make some conscious decisions about how to work and what
works best for you, and stick with it, in other words; determine your own
workflow. Design when and how jobs progress to their completion and establish
your own remedy for a job workflow; adapt and nourish your method as needed
until you can sustain consistency.
Make sure your studio is neat and organized.
A cluttered, disorganized work environment will lead to a disorderly,
unsystematic work method, which will, in turn, lead to an inability to diagnose
and treat deadlines. It is vitally important to own your workspace and to not
let it overwhelm you. An orderly studio will prevent distractions that can
interfere with your mental concentration and waste quite a bit of time.
If you work digitally, frequently back up your work.
A penny saved is a penny earned, and a file saved is worth
100’s of thousands of pennies. This is especially important if you are susceptible
to working digitally. Illustrators who work with traditional media can rescan
or re-photograph work, but for digital media illustrators, a lost file means
permanently lost work. You’ll find that backing up image files to two
additional devices will not only immunize you from loss, but is good insurance
for your mental health.
Develop a rewards strategy.
It is a scientifically proven that people work more
effectively when there is some form of reward to be had; an incentive or a
benefit that can be reached as a result of completed work. It’s a remedy that
will boost motivation and inspire the necessary concentration to complete a
task at hand. The reward should be some-thing special, quite different than the
money a job can generate. It should be based on supplementary therapeutic and restorative
incentives; something you enjoy.
Deadline Triage
StickK
StickK.com is an American Internet start-up company
that enables users to make commitment contracts in order to reach their
personal goals. StickK users set up a "Commitment Contract" where
they agree to achieve a certain goal, such as losing weight, exercising more,
quitting smoking, or conserving energy. They sign a legally binding contract
that will send their money to third parties, including either individuals
(referred to as "Friend or Foe") or a number of organizations and
charities. If users pick "Charity" as a recipient of their forfeited
money, StickK selects the charity for the user. Users can also pick a specific
organization whose views they oppose referred to as “Anti-Charities”.
Unstuck
Unstuck is a new in-the-moment approach to personal growth
for anyone who wants to live better every day. Combining personalized digital
tools with tips and know-how from a community of other people facing stuck
moments, Unstuck makes it easy to get on-demand coaching whenever you need it. Each
Unstuck tool is designed to kick-start success for specific kinds of stuck
moments. These interactive springboards can help you make a decision, set goals,
see possibilities, overcome obstacles, rediscover purpose, make a plan, crystallize
ideas, get motivated, deal with change, and find help.
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