Self-Imposed Deadlines
“Do you ever wonder how some people seem to do everything? People who are involved in every club, group, society, and are working, pursuing a double major, and starting a family? Where do they find the time?”
Do you ever wonder how some people seem to do everything? People who are involved in every club, group, society, and are working, pursuing a double major, and starting a family? Where do they find the time? We silently conclude that they are spread too thin and aren’t actually as happy or successful as they appear, and we go on our way. However, every so often we think to ourselves, “Wow, my friend ___________ is so happy and productive, how does he or she do it?”
Well, I’m no expert by any means, and I struggle to keep all of my priorities aligned, but I believe it is possible to accomplish nearly everything you wish to if you follow a couple of simple suggestions.
First, develop an attitude of gratitude. Yes, it’s cliché. But it works. Every day is a new opportunity to reflect on your unique talents and abilities and to be thankful for them. You have the capacity to think and to do. You can ideate and create. Once you realize what you are capable of, get to work.
Second, recognize that work can be accomplished in two ways: either by thriving or surviving. When thriving, our work is primarily self-directed. When surviving, our work is primarily directed by others. Now I’m not implying that you should never enter survival mode, or simply follow others’ directions. This is important from time to time. I’m suggesting that you can’t always be in survival mode, you can’t always be a follower. To break out of survival mode, I believe that you should reframe the directions you receive from others so that they become yours and you become self-directed. Confused how to do that? Let me paint the picture for you.
Imagine that you are in the office one afternoon and your boss comes up to you, “Hey, John, I want you to design a heat sink for the new microcontroller that will be released later this year. I recommend you get started soon!”
Recognize that your boss just made a decision about what you’re going to do. She decided that you will design a heat sink. It is now up to you to act on her decision.
Now, this is the critical moment. Do you say, “Awesome! I’ll get right to work on it!” Or do you say, “Awesome! What should I do?”
If you tend to answer with the first response, you are thriving. You are well on your way to self-directed work. You are ready to create your own intermediate milestones and choose the processes you will follow to achieve the outcome. If you can do this in a professional setting, you will be able to do it in your personal life, ultimately leading to greater happiness and productivity.
If you tend to answer with the second response, you are entering survival mode -- you know, the mode where others just keep piling on the tasks and deadlines. You are on your way to filling your day with externally-directed work. For most of us, this work is much less satisfying.
If you find yourself dissatisfied because of an unhealthy balance between externally and internally directed work, simply recognize that there is room to improve. Here is a core concept that has helped me become more self-directed and ultimately happier and more productive:
Self-imposed deadlines make all the difference. We all know that deadlines are absolutely essential to getting anything done. But did you know about, or take advantage of, the two kinds of deadlines: real deadlines and self-imposed deadlines? A “real” deadline, for the sake of this article, is a hard deadline. Consider an application for a prestigious award or fellowship. The deadline is December 1st for everyone in the world and no submitted applications after that date will be considered. If this is your deadline, you have no option but to submit something by 11:59 pm on November 30th. A self-imposed deadline is a deadline you set for yourself, which is not the “real” deadline. For example, if I love country music and Rascal Flatts is coming to Salt Lake City for a concert on November 30th, then I am going to create a self-imposed deadline to submit my fellowship application by 11:59 pm on November 29th. That way, I can do both: go to the Rascal Flatts concert while still submitting my application. Both things are important.
Self-imposed deadlines are the key to getting done what matters most and accomplishing what you want. So, as an engineer or a designer (or really for anybody reading this article), if you can master the art of creating self-imposed deadlines for work, school, and other critical projects, you will naturally and simultaneously create time to work toward your personal goals. No matter your ambitions (working on more DIY projects, participating on a local bowling team, or studying a second language) you will become someone who accomplishes much more than you originally thought you could.
While I can’t promise instant success (have patience), I’m confident that you will be happier and more productive as you follow the suggestions in this article. Remember, it starts with your attitude and a reframing of the tasks to make them self-directed. Self-imposed deadlines are a key factor in achieving this.
