I have the great privilege of writing for two well-known Christian publications. I should be motivated to sit down in front of my computer and push out great articles each month, right? Wrong! There are some days when I am not motivated at all to do anything, more or less write. Thus, the ultimate inspiration for me is the deadline I have been given. I am like Duke Ellington, who said, "Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn't do nothing." Deadlines help me put away excuses and create an urgency of getting down to the business of putting my thoughts down, one sentence and one paragraph at a time. When I fail to meet my deadline, I thank God for the grace of the editors.
Deadlines are not only helpful for writing and work projects, they are also helpful for our personal lives as well. If you have set goals to pay off a bill, lose weight, buy a new house, finish reading a book, read through the Bible, going back to school, or to take a dream vacation, and have found yourself procrastinating and being less and less inspired, you may be able to create momentum by setting a deadline. Here are some helpful tips to setting and meeting deadlines:
1. Care about deadlines
2. Don't be intimidated by deadlines
3. Set a fake deadline
4. Have a clear outcome (What are you trying to accomplish?)
5. Keep a list of your goals and objectives handy
6. Break down your goals/objectives into steps
7. Have a "start and complete" date for each step
8. Block off adequate time to accomplish each step
9. Don't over commit
10. Do what you need to do to meet your deadline
11. If you fail to meet the deadline, set a second one.
12. Learn from mistakes
13. Give yourself grace (not too much, though. You might sabotage your success and productivity)
14. Have someone hold you accountable to meet your deadline
Do you have a sense of urgency about your goals, success, and growth? What tight deadlines can you give yourself to inspire you to produce your best work? Tell me how deadlines have helped to inspire you.