How to Complete Big Projects Using Deadlines

Influenced by , I wanted to make a how-to guide as a journal post. This time, this will show how deadlines can help with the marathons that are large creative projects. Here’s how:

Start by peppering the project time with many milestone deadlines. It’s much easier to go for a more immediate goal than just focusing on the faraway finished one. Make deadlines to meet that divide up the work, so you can go at a regular pace. In fact, you can take the project literally one day at a time by setting daily goals for the project.

Make realistic deadlines. Don’t make yourself do a buttload of work in one fell swoop. Do a little of it a day, and eventually, it will be made completely.

Actually meet your deadlines. You made them for a reason. Don’t miss a single one, and don’t think that you’ll catch up if you miss one. You made the guide, so it will help you pull through.

Give yourself rest days regularly. There are times where you do need to take a break from your big project, even if it is all you think about. Devote whole days to taking a break or in case of an emergency or special occasion, as elaborated in a later tip.

Tell someone your deadlines. It helps to be pressured with your deadlines by an outside force, even if you find it unimportant internally. Pick someone you trust and let them track your deadlines as well.

Don’t be public about your deadlines. Only tell a few close friends or loved ones. That way, only they will pester you into getting your axe to the grindstone. If you do tell the whole world then inevitably fail your own deadlines, you’ll look like a complete ass to nearly everyone you know.

Anticipate technical difficulties. The greatest plans of mice and men often go awry, so the rest days also make buffer for when things go wrong like your computer crashing and losing work.

Surprise people with your final product! Keep your project overall under wraps until it comes out. That way, only a few people know if it at all, much less when you want it to be done.

EXAMPLE
Say you want to make an original 22-minute Walfas thinf for YouTube. The following template is recommended:

DAY 1: Script, 10 pages
DAY 2: Script, 10 pages
DAY 3: Script, 10 pages
DAY 4: Script, 10 pages
DAY 5: Script revision, whittle down to 35-36 pages.
DAY 6: Recording, first half of the script
DAY 7: Rest
DAY 8: Recording, second half of the script
DAY 9: Walfasing, pages 1-4
DAY 10: Walfasing, pages 5-8
DAY 11: Walfasing, pages 9-12
DAY 12: Walfasing, pages 13-16
DAY 13: Walfasing, pages 17-20
DAY 14: Rest
DAY 15: Walfasing, pages 21-24
DAY 16: Walfasing, pages 25-28
DAY 17: Walfasing, pages 29-32
DAY 18: Walfasing, pages 33-36
DAY 19: Screencapping, post-production
DAY 20: Foley, rendering
DAY 21: Proofwatching, Upload

Deadlines are a real good way of getting progress done. With this planning in mind, big tasks will become much easier, and more importantly, finished in a timely manner.

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