It’s April 15, so deadlines are on my mind. Not just today’s filing deadline, but deadlines in general. My life is built around them, and has been forever, it seems. When I was a student there were tests and papers looming regularly on the horizon. Ditto for the few years after college when I was a teacher. Then I became a journalist, a business with deadlines built into its DNA.
Through the years I’ve come to think of deadlines as my friends. While I rail about them, especially as they’re drawing near, they keep me on task, they keep me honest — and they keep me sane. My major problem is taking on too many of them. But yesterday, I turned down a freelance assignment because I knew I couldn’t finish it in time. Is this wisdom? Is this folly? I’m not sure. But it’s certainly proof of the power of deadlines.