Deadlines

 

“Dreams without deadlines are dead in the water. Deadlines are really lifelines to achieving our goals.” ~ Mark Batterson

My cousin sent me a clip of a cussing guru talking about deadlines. I had a good laugh listening to that clip over and over again. Why? Because I was chasing one at the time he sent me the clip – how did he know?

As I often do, I looked up the definition of ‘deadline’ and found 3 interesting definitions: a time limit for completion of an assignment; a date on or before which something must be completed; and, a boundary line in a prison that prisoners can cross only at the risk of being shot.

That last one must have been the original definition that then came to define the dread that accompanies the other 2 definitions. Deadlines can feel like a countdown to a firing squad! And it gets worse if the person for whom the clock tolls is also a perfectionist! Welcome to my world.

Back to my effing guru. . . and I quote, “F* your work deadline: if you make it, you make it, and if you don’t make it, f* it. It is not life; it is only work. They call it a deadline but nobody actually dies if they miss one so effing chill. Don’t sacrifice life’s joy, well-being, and mental health chasing a deadline. In the greater scheme of things, your work deadline is meaningless.”

In his Indian accent, he sounded like a modern version of Qoheleth (The Teacher) as he must have sounded while penning the words of Ecclesiastes 1:14: I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless – like chasing the wind. And Ecclesiastes is well known for putting those things we esteem and enthrone in their proper place in life – they are passing clouds, vapor in the wind, meaningless in the grand scheme of life.

So why do ‘dead’ lines, dead as they are, feel so dreadful? One proposition: meeting one or losing it feels like putting my integrity to the test. If I said I would do something by a given date, then it is the honor of my word that is on the line as the clock ticks to that point. Another thought, for those who suffer from procrastination, deadlines are pretty important as catalysts for the necessary actions to start rolling. Motivation rises as the ticking clock gets louder. Those of us who write sometimes go through writer’s block and there’s nothing as good as a deadline for getting the creativity moving again. So deadlines are not necessarily bad things – except when we make them a noose around our necks and use them to hang our peace of mind, joy, and satisfaction in life.

The effing monk was making a point of reminding us that there are more important things to focus on in life than stopwatches and countdowns. If I make every effort to get a job done but I am unable to complete it in a given time, I should be able to communicate without guilt or lies and explain the delay. The problem comes in because many of us do not walk in integrity and choose to lie and eventually when we are called out, we ruin relationships that would otherwise have been understanding.

Making an effort to keep our word is important. Doing what we committed to do to the best of our ability is integrity. Also, you are human and you live within the constraints of time and energy. Time runs out and so does energy. We need daily rest, a weekly rest day even. And it is in that rest that we repair, restore, and rejuvenate so we can get back stronger and sharper. Failure to take a break and manage the expenditure of our energy will lead to burnout and run-down. Managing expectations is a big part of self-care. Don’t allow deadlines to become a line you can only cross at the risk of being shot . . . unless you’re reading this post from behind prison bars.

“A professional who doesn’t deliver as committed is not just lazy, he is a liar.” ~ Amit Kalantri

“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.” ~ Rita Mae Brown