The reason is that otherwise more urgent or important things creep up and what you want to get done gets pushed along further down the timeline. To infinity and beyond 😉
It got me thinking how the word “deadline” came about. Its history is rather vague but some sources cite that it was a line drawn around prisons around the Civil War period in the late 1800s. If a prisoner crossed the line, they would be shot. This was a line that could not be crossed.
Imagine what you would get done if it was a deadline like that. We’ve all had the odd deadline slip here and there, often to little or even no consequence. That’s not a proper deadline. There needs to be some consequence otherwise why bother having it.
So whilst the deadline is the start, if you are serious about wanting to get something done by the deadline, then add some skin into the game. Put other tasks on the backburner. Bring in or buy in the resources you need. A public announcement also helps. There’s plenty more you can do to make a deadline a real one.
So what’s your next deadline for?