Whether you are an employee of a major metropolitan office doomed to work a conventional 9-5 while reducing your identity to just a number or you need to bake a dozen cupcakes by the weekend, the thought of missing a deadline is always stressful. People often try to create goals or have lofty ambitions of being successful through general planning. That’s why Fear of Missing a Deadline is something so many people can relate to. It’s also a really easy way to direct you to read other articles on this website and introduce Things I Fear as your go-to source for everything. Everything.
Haunted by Fear of Missing a Deadline
You know those awkward conversations with your boss that you dread? Maybe it’s because you were supposed to send an eCard to their ex-wife on their behalf and you forgot. Perhaps it was because your security card stopped working and you find out it’s because you were fired weeks ago but were never told. Or it might even be because you were supposed to get something out by “end of day” which to him/her means first thing in the morning. Feeling like you missed an important memo or deadline is never good. Not being able to do something on time and letting someone down is much worse. Unless you don’t have a conscience. Then you can blame them for your own failures and never feel bad about it. But that’s for another therapy session.
Contrary to how that last paragraph ended, missing a deadline impacts more than just you. That’s one of the most important characteristics of Fear of Missing a Deadline. You might be letting down a friend, family member, or an entire city. The latter of which may be because 50,000 people showed up to hear your Mayoral acceptance speech but you forgot to attend. There are a lot of ways deadlines can be missed. Perhaps you meant to hit “send” on an email but instead accidentally hit “delete”. You might have received an invite you assumed you RSVP’d for but realized you never actually texted back. Perhaps people were really accustomed to you writing new blog content every week and you simply could not do it for 3 weeks because life got in the way. Not pointing any fingers here, but I think we all know who I am talking about.
How to Deal with Fear of Missing a Deadline
Conventional wisdom suggests the easiest way to avoid worrying about something is to not worry about it. Unfortunately, that’s like telling someone who is afraid of heights to go climb a skyscraper but not look down. Or just close your eyes while you’re cage-diving with sharks. It’s sound advice as long as you don’t listen to it. When it comes to your Fear of Missing a Deadline, it’s important to remember you can always ask for an extension and that one deadline does not define a man. Or woman. Deadlines are super progressive. According to an unfounded statistic, the average human being will miss 5-8 deadlines in their lifetime.
So just because you may be feeling the heat of an impending due date or realize you didn’t do something 8 weeks ago you meant to complete, you’re not alone. People forget things all the time! Name one perfect human being. Go on. In fact, why don’t you comment about it on this post and then tell all your friends to check it out. Maybe even encourage them to Like & Share with their friends too. That might just cure your Fear of Missing a Deadline. It’s not pandering if I make it seem helpful.
