OK, I’ll admit it…

I’m a bit obsessed with deadlines.

I don’t mean ‘obsessed’ in a gibbering, mad-scientist kind of way…

I don’t spend all day tapping my watch, crying “You’re late! You’re late! You’re late!” to my staff, kids and husband, like the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

Not every day, anyway.

It’s just that I thrive on deadlines.

For instance, whenever I launch a new product, I put firm deadlines in place.

Not just personal targets for getting things done at my end…

I mean deadlines for my potential customers… for instance, a time limit on joining an invitation list… a deadline for a special offer… a closing date for a service…

And I’m darned firm about these deadlines too. No excuses and no exceptions.

I set a specific time, a specific date, and send my email subscribers plenty of emails to make sure how long they’ve got to take action.

This isn’t me being fussy, it’s actually an important marketing tool. When there’s a firm deadline, customers take more notice, and are required to make a more immediate decision about trying a product, instead of leaving it for later.

It makes the offer pressing and urgent, raising the response, which is what all good direct marketing is about.

I’m going to tell you more about the marketing power of deadlines in a future email, so stay tuned. They can do so much for your profits – and how quickly you make them – that you’ll be amazed.

But today I want to talk about the second big reason for having deadlines.

This is something that benefits product creators, marketers and editors. And if you try it too, it will help you speed up, and complete, any project you’re attempting right now, business or otherwise.

Why deadlines are creative

Most people think of ‘deadlines’ and ‘creativity’ as two opposing entities.

They think good creativity must be free flowing, unimpeded and without boundaries.

They might say something like “Hey, don’t ruin my creative flow with your stuffy deadlines…”

But I don’t see it that way.

I believe firmly that my business, Canonbury, would produce less than half of what we put out each year if we didn’t have deadlines. And the quality wouldn’t change.

You see, without a deadline, projects drift… there’s no end to it… you keep working and tinkering and tweaking, thinking that the more time you put in, the better it will become.

This might feel creative, but what have you actually CREATED? It’s only when you press “publish”, “send” or “activate” that the thing exists.

Until that point it’s just an idea… a promise… a maybe.

Too many new entrepreneurs spend their time wandering aimlessly through creative ideas, brainstorming and bickering over details that they eventually miss the boat… the project runs out of steam, ends up with the contributors all falling out, or never quite launches.

Worse it ends up launching as a muddled, committee decreed mess that has been over-thought and watered down.

This is why deadlines are creative: they give structure to the process, force you to take decisions, and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

This is why, if I’m working with a client and they ask: “How long will this project take?”

My answer is: usually…

“Give me a deadline and I’ll tell you.”

In my experience, projects take as long as the time you allocate to them.

For instance, let’s say I decide to write a book about starting a publishing business. I could set myself a year, maybe 6 months, or even two years to write the first draft.

I expect that whatever time-frame I chose, the book I produced wouldn’t be any different.

Of course, I’d work a lot faster and with more pressure with that 6-month deadline. But I’d schedule in all the tasks I’d need to carry out to get that done in time. I’d make room. I’d put that crucial super-effort in as the deadline loomed closer.

And it would GET DONE.

This is why I love deadlines.

I like to set a launch date, then work backwards, scheduling tasks to ensure that I hit that date!

With a deadline I can create a new product in good time, then move onto the next one. It stops me spending years developing products that might not even succeed.

So my advice to you is always set a deadline – ALWAYS.

Don’t try and achieve a major goal without one

Also, don’t spend ages agonising over that deadline.

Set an amount of time to spend on the project and schedule your diary with what needs to be done to make it happen. Then stick to that schedule.

After all, let’s say you and I had a business lunch scheduled, you wouldn’t not turn up, would you?

So why would you do that with a task that’s going to help create your product or service – a project that could allow you to finally achieve the goals you’ve always set yourself?

It’s just as important!

This is why, as I have discovered, one of the most effective deadlines is the date of a live event.

When you’re creating a digital product, you can swap tasks around if you miss targets. But once you set a firm date at a REAL venue that REAL people will turn up to, you cannot back out, make excuses or procrastinate.

The event happening, and you’d better get everything ready in time, or else!

While you might not be creating live events, do try and give that same intensity to your own deadlines – that sense of absolute necessity that you must hit those deadlines at any cost.

Believe me, it will vastly accelerate the process and increase your likelihood of success.