Why Meeting Writing Deadlines Is So Hard

I’ve been thinking a lot about deadlines lately. As we approach the end of the academic year, many college seniors in my program are worried about looming thesis deadlines. What brings each student to my office looking for grace on those deadlines is unique. Yet, at the same time, their stories have a lot in common. And while faculty may shake their heads in disdain or their fists in frustration, the reality is that the reasons students blow deadlines are not all that different from why we, as more seasoned academic writers, blow deadlines. So here are some thoughts on what contributes to challenges in meeting deadlines, along with strategies for staying on track.

Life happens. We get sick; our child or partner gets sick. Some other life event intervenes that saps our time or energy for writing. These are unavoidable, and they happen to all of us. Building some wiggle room into your schedule can help you manage such setbacks without blowing the whole project. I do this by setting an earlier delivery date than the actual deadline—it may be a day or two on smaller projects or a week or more on larger projects. I also block time on my calendar before that earlier date to give myself space to meet that target.

We underestimate how much time we will need. One of the most common issues I hear from students (and their faculty members) is that they underestimated how long it would take to complete their projects. I think this is pretty common, especially when we are taking on something new. The other reality is that we are all trying to shoehorn another project into already full work and personal lives. We want the project to take the time we have to give it and no more. Strategies for dealing with this might include taking an inventory of commitments leading up to a deadline and figuring out which ones can be paused temporarily or delegated to someone else. For example, I wrote my dissertation while working full-time and caring for a child under two. I paid for some classes at the zoo that my husband and son could enjoy on Saturday mornings and delegated the weekly grocery shopping to my husband. Delegating some household tasks and childcare responsibilities allowed me to spend the better part of Saturday in my office writing.

It’s also worth remembering that saying “yes” to some things may mean we have to say “no” to others. If meeting a deadline is critical for academic or professional success, we must learn to say “no” gracefully but forcefully.

Our project scope is too large. When I first described what I wanted to do for my dissertation, my chair told me it was a great idea but too big. She advised me to scale back. Scaling back doesn’t mean never; it just means not right now. Academic writers typically focus on an extensive research agenda, of which any given project is only one part. Ideas that get jettisoned from one project can become the launching point for a later one.

If we don’t manage the scope on the front end of the project, we may find that we need to do so as we approach the deadline. In a recent conversation with a coaching client, she referred to this as the minimal viable product. What must I have to satisfy this deadline, and what will I be comfortable with? Identifying the minimum viable product may mean renegotiating the scope with collaborators, committee members, editors, or others with some type of oversight for the writing project.

Procrastination is the root of all evil. Maybe, we have just procrastinated. I did a bit with this blog post. I was stuck, and instead of digging in and getting words on the page, I did some shopping online. Don’t I need another work bag?

Procrastination isn’t a character flaw, though I sometimes think we treat it as such. Instead, I suspect it masks any one of several different emotions that get in the way of writing—and meeting our deadlines. Maybe, we’re bored. Indeed, when we think about large-scale projects like a thesis, dissertation, or book manuscript, the enthusiasm with which we start is likely to wane as the timeline drags on. We may also find that we aren’t as interested in this topic as we thought. In that case, we may ask whether it is possible to change directions with the project, take a break from it, or walk away altogether.

Another reason people procrastinate is fear of failure. I can’t get this wrong if I don’t do anything at all. Related to this is not asking for the help you need to move forward. I see this a lot with undergraduates, but I know I am also reluctant to ask for help at times. I think I should know how to do something and am embarrassed to admit that I don’t or don’t want to bother someone else by asking. So, I try to figure it out on my own, and if it looks too complicated or I don’t understand how to move forward, I will put it off. If you find yourself procrastinating, it might be time to check in with your emotions. Finding ways to address the underlying emotional concern will likely help you move forward with your writing.

How about you? What are some of your challenges with meeting your writing deadlines, and what strategies do you use to overcome them?