Personal Deadlines Keep Goals Moving Forward

Having a deadline to work towards makes it much easier to stay focused and get things done when the deadline is approaching. But what if you are doing something just for yourself, like working on a personal project, learning a new skill, or practising how to build something, and no one is watching?

Without a deadline, the work will be very easy to put off. You may have many excuses for yourself, like: “I will begin some other moment or “I’m not in a hurry yet”, and gradually you will put the work away.  That is how the book of many personal projects is unnecessarily opened and unable to be read.

Choosing your own deadline can really assist with structuring a situation.  If you know what the goal is, you have a lot more motivation and are much more likely to keep steady, not to mention motivate you to not think, just do! A far-off goal like get done by the day is a good starting point!

But personal deadlines are not ideal.  Because you’re the one creating them, it is easy to cheat or escape them when motivation is lacking.  Sometimes, too rigid deadlines can take the fun out of learning or creating and replace it with stress.

More people will find it better to use flexible goals.  These people don’t have tight deadlines but rather break them into small targets, such as a weekly goal or an incremental goal that breaks the larger goal into smaller and more manageable parts. This allows temporary flexibility when life gets hectic.

Finally, sometimes it’s not a matter of finishing early but rather not stopping. The key is to keep going all the time without getting bored.

Discussion Question

Do you set personal deadlines when working on your own goals or learning new skills? Do they help you stay focused, or do they sometimes feel like pressure? What works best for you?