Well, it’s that time of year again, that scary, threatening, stressful time. We shall call it – deadline season. Yes, you’re probably working towards your deadlines, you’re pounding on that laptop trying to meet that deadline. Within this time there are stages of dealing with deadlines, that we will all experience. I can only think of 10 that I have experienced during my university life. I’m sure you may recognise some if not all.
1. The ‘I have so much time to do this assignment’ stage
We are all familiar with this stage. This is the stage where you’re told that you have two months to write the essay, and you quickly think “that is so much time!” Yes, this happens so naturally, you end up not doing anything.
2. The ‘I should probably do something now’ stage
Sound familiar right? This is one of those days when you think you should ‘probably do something’ and you actually do. You open a book, read or write a paragraph and then suddenly get distracted by other things like…facebook. You need to check a status update. Updates are far more critical.
3. The ‘gearing yourself up’ stage
This stage is where you play loud, inspirational music to get yourself in the mindset and mood to do the work. You think of only researching, only writing, only doing what needs to be done but then you think, oh, sleep sounds so much more fun.
4. The ‘I am not actually moving’ stage
You sit and stare. You sit and stare at the document because, you think, that’s what needs to happen. As if it’ll give you some kind of superpowers. You sit. You stare. And nothing happens.
5. The ‘snap, I have a week!’ stage
So now you’re feeling the pressure rising. You are probably starting to hate yourself for even taking up this degree. Then you make up your mind that yes, perhaps, you should begin because time is not on your side anymore. You have a week. You can write 3000 words in a week. Of course, you can.
6. The ‘I’m writing something outstanding’ stage
So by now, surely you haven’t done enough research, and you haven’t given yourself enough time. You are trying to convince yourself that you work well under pressure and that you are writing some fabulous stuff. Your ideas are new and fresh; you should write under pressure more.
7. The ‘this is really bad’ stage
You’ve re-read your masterpiece, and it’s not as great as you first thought. Good griefs, why would you even think about writing like this, in this subject? But then, it hits you – it’s too late to go back and start again. Actually, you haven’t even written your conclusion. Or should you start again?
8. The ‘working and avoiding the clock’ stage
The clock is ticking. But you’re not looking at the clock; you’re working. You’re working very fast. You’re not looking at the clock even though you know you don’t have enough time. And then you look at the clock; it’s only an hour until hand in. You are stressed all over again, even more than before, actually.
9. The ‘clicking save’ stage
You’re finished. It’s done. You clicked save. It’s printed. It has your name on it. You now have to hand in. It’s been a rollercoaster dealing with deadlines.
10. The ‘hand in, walk away, what have I done?’ stage
Now you’ve handed it in. Now you’re walking away. Yeah, you were expecting something more, songs and dance, talking animals but you walk, you walk and keep walking. Goodness, now you wait for your results :).
Does this all sound a bit too familiar? Not to fear, we are all going through this when dealing with deadlines. These are just feelings and when you have them, look up and listen to the universal drum of deadlines.
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