Poll: Do You Dread the Deadline?

I can safely say I have never missed a deadline ever! I also work best with deadlines. I simply abhor projects that carry on for months, sometimes years.

*cringe*

My trick is to always “under promise” and then “over deliver”.

For example if I know a project can be completed in 4-7 days then I would give the client a time-frame of 14-20 days. That way, when I deliver the project way sooner, the client is impressed and it also buys me time in case I can not complete the project within say 4 days.

I’m pretty good at deadlines and have never missed one, though I have renegotiated a few (I don’t think that counts as missing them ). For me, keeping on top of deadlines is part of being a professional writer. I usually plan to finish work the day before the client actually needs it and if there’s any chance that deadlines are going to get squeezed, I contact the client in plenty of time to work something out.

Deadlines usually are not too bad considering the fact before you begin the project usually the clients will let you know when it is and you should be able to decide if you can handle it or not.

The only deadlines I have ever missed have been ones either where the project was not given to me on the agreed-upon date or where the author has been slow in responding to my queries, making the manuscript be late to the publisher. In other words, the missed deadlines have never been my fault!

I’ve been on my own for almost two years and have only missed 2 deadlines in that time. On both occasions I just asked the client for 1 more day because the design concepts I was working on weren’t really clicking with me yet. Both were totally fine with it.

What really helps for me is planning out every project in BaseCamp before it starts, then moving the work for each Milestone into my weekly ToDos.

I’m out $90 on a business networking golf outing today because I decided it was more important to get work done for my big deadline next week. Sometimes I wish I was less responsible

I’ve had clients missing their own deadlines. When they keep changing their mind, and asking for more changes it’s always healthy to let them know, the more they keep making changes, the more they push their own deadline. Some don’t really like the idea and that alone puts them back on track. While others are simply OK as long as they’re happy with the final product.

I said I am pretty punctual and have missed a few, but in truth I’ve only ever missed one and that was the week my mother passed away. Otherwise, I am very consistently on time and consider that one of the hallmarks of the service I offer.

I never make deadlines because clients are always late on getting me content. Odd how that happens

I haven’t missed a deadline, but at the expense of any sort of normal life!

Part of it is me only taking on work that I know I can handle, even with unexpected surprises.

I agree with Bebop Designer … I’m a very organized person, and when I give clients time-to-completion estimates I have already factored in the inevitable, that the client will invariably not deliver content on time, or that some other mishap might occur that may cause a delay in some way or another. It is simply part of good planning. However, no matter how well you plan in advance for these unforeseen occurrences, some clients (maybe due to a busy schedule, not understanding the ‘need for speed’ in returning phone-calls, e-mails etc.) are usually the ones causing delays in meeting the deadline. I issue a similar reminder to Bebop’s to my own clients, and I also have a clause in my contract I remind them of that states that I can charge them for all work done up to the deadline date, when the deadline is extended due to their slow response.

10 years, have never missed a deadline, not once. Even under the craziest of deadlines. In my field, that’s just as important as the work you do, at least from my perspective. Can’t hand in less than stellar work, can’t be late handing it in.

In all the years I’ve been a freelance language editor I’ve come close to missing a deadline twice* but luckily I saw the danger looming in time to (a) be able to do some about it, like (b) inform the client and (c) renegotiate a new delivery date. In both cases it to had do with book manuscripts and the time frame was a matter of weeks, not days, so there was some leeway.

I think the worst you can do in the o-my-gosh I’m going to miss the deadline situation is panic or ignore the reality and hope for the best. Instead of playing ostrich, I think it’s much better to stick your neck out and “come clean” with the client. Clients are people too (yes really). I find that if you approach them with proper professional respect, they’ll respond well, especially if you show them that you’re considering their needs as well as your own.

*The first case I was totally my own fault: I’d underestimated the time required to edit this book and because of that silly mistake I ended up renegotiating the deadline but had to stick to the agreed price (ouch). The second time was also my own fault (sort of) as I’d allowed distractions in my private life (i.e. divorce proceedings) get in the way. Without getting into too much personal detail I let the client know what was going on and again, they were very considerate.

While I on occasion do miss deadlines, I work better under pressure anyway. It’s too tempting to procrastinate when you see that you’ve got plenty of time to do something in, while if there’s a deadline (even set up fake deadlines before the real one!) it gives the motivation to get things done by a certain time, adding the fun of the challenge with the adrenaline of not being under pressure to make it.

No edit button… remove the word “not” from the last line of my previous post.