How to Handle Far Off Due Dates

Often, we have to deal with things that are due a long time from now. Taxes, term papers, a wedding speech, and more can all loom somewhere in the horizon.

Meanwhile, we more than likely have many other short term things that are due - things we’ve procrastinated on, bills, a test on Tuesday, etc.

It can be quite easy to keep pushing off things that are due in a long while when you have lots of stuff due soon in front of you. Unfortunately, those things that are pushed off now become things that are due soon. And often they are big things that you have little time to do, especially as all the little things don’t wait either.

You get the picture.

A simple means of addressing this concern is to do three things:

1. Start Early - Of course, this sounds obvious. It is. However, the struggle here is often the procrastination that comes with thinking you need to do all of the work, that it is impossible, that it can wait, among numerous other thoughts.
2. Start Small - This helps with the starting early. Instead of thinking that you need to do all of it at once, you could instead, just put your name on it, write a small line, fill out one tax line, and more.
3. Start Often - Doing something often, daily in particular, combines with doing it small and starting early to create a powerful engine to get big things done.

Altogether, these three things can get you through large projects, often finishing them well before the deadline. And, since you are doing only a little bit at a time, you should have time to do all the other smaller due soon things, too.

For a more detailed exploration of this workflow engine, consider the Being Productive video course.