Almost deadlines

When I began my attempt at writing something every day during 2021, I knew that establishing a rhythm was going to be critical.

I’d need to write at generally the same time each day, and that time was between 7:00a and 7:30a.

I’d light a candle each day to signify that it was time for writing and not browsing social media or reconciling bank accounts to prepping for a message or a myriad of other things we do when we fire up a computer.

I also set up an automation between my blog and MailChimp so that each day at 10a, my post would be emailed to my subscribers. (Not a subscriber? Go here to fix that!)

Every day of the year, this system has worked. I’d write sometime during the early morning hours as the candle burned, and each day at 10:00a subscribers to the blog would be reading about it.

But this morning, for the first time all year, I found myself in a place where I didn’t meet those expectations. But guess what? I didn’t panic. I didn’t hang my head about not writing during the day for the first time all year. And do you know why?

It’s because I had another trick up my sleeve. All of those self-imposed systems weren’t deadlines. They were almost deadlines. Sure, it’s likely that people will get an email tomorrow with two blog posts, but my goal wasn’t to email daily, but to write and post daily (besides, my subscribers may be thankful for a one-day break). The real deadline is 11:59p each night, and my almost deadlines ensure that I won’t miss the actual deadline.

Systems and rhythms are wonderful ways to work smarter and not harder. I’ve ignored them for most of my life, thinking that somehow they were cold and artificial.

But they’re neither cold nor artificial. As my almost deadlines provide today, systems and rhythms are beneficial, and I’d encourage you to begin developing some that help you accomplish your goals, too.

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