The deadline comes knocking

In most companies, January is the time when the whole office suddenly wakes up from a long, deep slumber and the place is abuzz with conversations that begin with ‘Have you submitted your tax proofs?’ ‘What documents do we need’, ‘Oh hell! I haven’t even done any savings…I never have the money’. In the end, however, the required documents (fully or partly) are submitted and the deadline met.

And that’s the beautiful thing about deadlines — they are there to be met. Earlier this year, we were working against time towards a project deadline. The project was among the largest for our organisation in terms of value, hence the focus of the leadership was glued to its progress; 3 partners (2 full-time) had been allocated; a dedicated ‘war room’ setup, daily review meetings, constant follow-up and updates were taking place from early morning till late night, Monday through Sunday. We were pulled out of all other activities to solely concentrate on this alone. Yet, when the deadline came for the submission of tax proofs, all individual employees (including me) were able to carve out time.

Around the same time, I had planned to go for a movie with my three-year-old son. He was terribly excited about the upcoming outing, more so since the movie was an adventure of his favourite cartoon character, Chota Bheem. However, as work spilled over, weekends were also spent in office. The casualty was the cinema. ‘He has to understand’, ‘I have no other option’, I reasoned with myself.

How often have we delayed, postponed or missed out on things that we wanted to or had to do, simply because we were too busy? Think of that fitness regime, the much-awaited vacation, family time (especially with small children), desire to pursue a hobby, participate in some recreational activity, contribute to a charitable cause or just call up a friend for a chat. No matter what the activity, it invariably becomes a ‘hassle’ for which time is limited or non-existent.

Here’s some food for thought: If one were to treat personal activities as deadlines for which time, once gone, will never come back, would they become much more important? Exercise is essential for keeping the body and mind healthy. Vacations are important to break the monotony and rejuvenate the mind. Children, once they grow up, will not come running into your arms, even if you have all the time in the world. Relationships with friends will slowly fade away and you may end up feeling lonely.

The fact that we could manage to keep the most important (and urgent) activity at work (the project) in abeyance in order to meet our tax deadline, perhaps means we can do the same with other activities too. As an individual, we are aware of the potential financial implications, if we fail to meet the deadline for the submission of tax proofs. Likewise, we need to become aware of the physical, mental and social implications of missing deadlines for personal activities. There is a difference though; while most financial implications can be corrected, physical, mental and social consequences are mostly irreversible.

It was my ‘eureka’ moment when this realisation finally dawned on me. Although the project at work was still on, I immediately took corrective measures and was able to catch the last show of the movie with my son, who was exhilarated beyond imagination. And I was delighted to have met this ‘sweet deadline’ of mine! You have the choice. You can decide on deadlines for personal activities and make them happen. You can choose to make them sweet deadlines or spend your life with bitter memories of missed opportunities.