What’s the Opposite of “Deadline”?

Are You Afraid of Deadlines?

I am.

I can tell by the way I pay so much attention to them. The way I take them so seriously. The way I make them more important than almost anything.

And I think it’s tied to approval.

Deadlines Are For Interfacing with Other People

Meeting a deadline is how I cooperate. It’s how I try to make life easier for others. You could say, it’s part of how I give service to others.

But sometimes it comes with strings attached from my side. I want someone’s approval in some form or another. And I put the deadline on myself to force it through.

So one way to use The Work on deadlines could be to write a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet on the person or group I’m trying to please when I try to meet a deadline.

For Example, Clients

Earlier this month I put a deadline on myself for setting up a new billing system for my clients. And as a result I got stressed.

Who was I trying to please? My clients, yes. But also my partner. I wanted to be able to tell him that it’s all done, that it’s now working. That it’s saving me time, which is now available to spend with him.

So I put a deadline to get it done this month. Actually, I didn’t make a deadline, I just said “I’m going to try to get it done by the end of the month.” And it became a deadline in my mind.

My worksheet could be, Line 1: “I feel obligated to my partner because he expects me to get it done by the end of the month.”

I’ve Been Playing with Another Way to Tackle Deadlines Too

By questioning, “I have a deadline.”

The obvious turnaround is “I don’t have a deadline.” But I’ve also had fun thinking about what is the opposite of “deadline.” Here are some of my favorites so far.

• I have an alive line. (It can be changed and moved as I find out what is involved.)
• I have a dynamic line. (I set it once, but I can keep resetting it as I go.)
• I have a movable line. (I can say, “No, the end of this month does not work for me.”)
• I have a flexible line. (I can say “A week a week later is just as good.”)
• I have an expandable zone. (It’s not a line, it’s a zone. I can get a percentage of it done by the original deadline and the rest can be filled over time.)
• I have multiple lines. (The end of the month comes every month, if I miss this one, I’ve got the next.)

Do you see any more? Let me know.

Have a great weekend,

Todd

“You are your own boss. Even if you have the most menial job in the world, you are your boss. And if you don’t like your job, welcome to The Work.” — Byron Katie, Question Your Thinking Change The World

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