Deadlines. We all have them. Some of us have more than others, but, yes, we all have them.
Most of us learned about deadlines when we were in school. We had to finish a paper that was due by Monday or complete a class project by Wednesday or study for a test on Friday. If we missed any of those, there were direct penalties, often showing up in our grades.
That’s not the case in some classrooms today. Don’t turn a paper in on time? No worries. Just get it in by the end of the semester. Didn’t complete your class project? That’s OK. You can get an extension. Flunked a test? Relax. You can retake it. Some administrators and teachers think they are helping students by allowing these exceptions to deadlines. They aren’t. Deadlines are important — and inevitable — in the working world.
I recognize that meeting deadlines is more difficult for some people. We all have friends or family members who are continually late with seemingly everything in their lives. They are the folks who think deadlines are merely suggestions. Despite this ongoing tardiness, a few of them are still successful in life, as their strengths compensate for this weakness. Most others aren’t so fortunate, as their inability to meet deadlines hampers them for life.
We also know those who thrive in a world of deadlines. It gives them extra motivation or drive to complete a task. They not only want deadlines, they request them. These folks perform better when having the discipline of deadlines.
A few decades ago, I managed a commercial printing plant. We would create our press schedules and line up press operators and assistants each week to cover the workload. Our customers would tell us when they needed papers back, and we would work in reverse and tell them when we would need files by. Most customers understood this. Some didn’t. I had one customer in particular who was not only hours late but sometimes days late. He would bring his files in randomly and say he would wait at the plant to pick up the printed copies. I would explain that he missed his press time and that we are printing for other customers now. He would reply, “That’s OK. I will wait.” I would clarify that he would need to wait a couple days, and he would then look at me with dismay. This happened almost every month. He simply could not — or would not — meet a deadline.
Now that I am back on the other side of the printing press, I am now the one working to meet those deadlines. The popular movie phrase “STOP THE PRESS” simply doesn’t happen, at least not in today’s world. Even this digital newsletter has deadlines, and many of you let me know when you think it is sent out late. That adherence to deadlines is a good thing, because, in the real world, there are no do-overs, retakes or extensions. And that’s the way it should be.
Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707