The Magic of Deadlines

There’s nothing quite like writing a paper in college in the middle of the night. Naturally, it’s due the next morning and worth half my grade. Is it procrastination? Possibly, or it has to do with something called Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s law is basically where tasks naturally become more important and complex as the time available to complete them decreases. This happens not only with essays but with everything in life as well. That includes the deadline for writing this post.

I missed my deadline but am determined to get this post done. I promised myself Mondays and Thursdays by 11am but somehow life seem to have other plans for me. I’m finding my focus drifting to other projects, kids starting school, friends, and forget to water this one. What took me days to decide on a topic, I can decide within 5-10 minutes. My focus is now completely given to this post and it makes it easier to be more effective. I’ve decreased my time allotted to this project and freed my mind to focus on my other income-producing projects. I may have missed the time, but I have never missed a day. 

Setting a deadline is like setting a goal. I have to be tougher with myself because the only one watching is me. Sometimes I recruit others to keep me accountable and incentivize them to do so. This is important especially when it comes to producing money for the future. I recently set a deadline to pay off a specific debt by the end of the year. I suddenly made decisions I would not have otherwise made if I just waited to see what would happen. Where focus goes energy flows. I can start to see the numbers in clearer details and it helps guide decision making when I know what my goals are and deadlines I have. Set deadlines for everything.

Be ambitious but take a siesta once in awhile. I believe that if I don’t miss some deadlines then I am not being ambitious enough with my potential. On the other hand, if I complete everything then I may be getting lazy or distracted for some reason and need to reflect. Some big decisions do take some time to mull over and having space to think is integral in the decision process. Being able to relax and unwind the mental muscle is good for healing and helping it grow. Remember it’s the journey and not the destination that matters.


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