According to www.oxforddictionaries.com, there are two definitions of the word "deadline".
Strangely enough, neither of these states: a vague timeframe in which something should probably be completed, if at all possible, not withstanding any other issues or priorities that may arise in the meantime.
The two definitions are:
1. The latest
time or date by which something should be completed.
2. A line drawn around a prison beyond which prisoners were liable to be shot (historical).
Hmmm, maybe if the second of these could be incorporated into the workplace definition, more of us would be inclined to meet the deadlines imposed on us.
During his recent time management workshop, Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Roger Gordon stressed the importance of noting deadlines when planning your week or month ahead to ensure you are aware of them and allow time to complete whatever task is required to schedule.
Deadlines can be stressful, but they create even more pressure when you do not acknowledge them until it is too late. Working in an environment where everything you do has been left until it is urgent is stressful and all it takes is one little bump in the road to completely upset the applecart.
With a little more care and attention to the road ahead, the driver could have avoided the bump or adjusted their speed to suit.
But the big thing to remember is the reason for setting deadlines. Generally, when your deadline passes, the ride starts for the next driver in the team. If you do not complete your section of the process on time, it creates a domino effect, toppling applecarts through every part of the convoy involved in delivering the final result.
If your figures are overdue, your supervisor's department report becomes late, your bosses' annual report gets pushed back and that puts pressure on their assistant to get it typed up and then the printers to create the final document to put in front of board members at the annual general meeting.
Missing the deadline may not seem a major thing for you, it is still a month until the AGM. But if everybody misses their deadlines by a day or two along the way, the pressure you each took off yourselves transfers down the supply chain until somebody is left with an unrealistic timeframe to work to.
Julie Taylor is the business editor at The Daily Post.
