“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they rush by.”
– Douglas Adams
I’m sure every project manager knows the quote above.
Douglas Adams was a notorious procrastinator and whiled many an hour away having baths rather than write – hence bath towels feature prominently in ‘The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy’.
On the other side of the spectrum, Barbara Cartland had a reasonable attitude towards bath time and limited herself to one bath a day thereby allowing her to publish 723 books with a further 160 books unpublished at the time of her death.
Deadlines are important.
I know that.
I made one of my four Core Values specifically about deadlines, it simply reads: Love Deadlines.
The title is a tongue-in-cheek nod to this quote and also because I believe we should love deadlines. Think about it.
- You respect the opinion of one you love. When setting deadlines, respect all parties to whom the deadline applies and set an appropriate, achievable deadline.
- You don’t want to harm one you love. Setting a realistic deadline is less likely to harm the outcome of your project.
- You protect one you love. You put in place safeguards to ensure you can meet your deadline.
And just in case you’re interested, I’m more likely to take a shower.