Despite the fact that you have carried out all the work up to date, making the corresponding corrections that your client has been demanding, you find that there are three days left until the delivery period ends and you have 20 pages left to layout / supervise. How is it possible? Now you find yourself immersed in a wild race against the clock, in which your professionalism and your validity as a designer will be evaluated. It is the moment when you suffer, you stress, you despair and you want to cry out for help with all your might.
Here we share with you a series of tricks about how to meet deadlines And not die trying.
How to meet deadlines
Delivery times and customer
- In the contract, establish a maximum number of corrections free to which the client has the right to do. Once passed, establish a amount of money for each extra correction. This will make your client think very well when requesting a change, and we will avoid continuously modifying documents and we can move forward.
- It stipulates that, for each correction made, you must add X days to the initial delivery date that you include in that document. For example: a correction = 2 more days; 4 corrections will mean submitting the work one week late.
Delivery times and designer
- Use all calendars and agendas that you need. If you are not using them, fight to get into the habit of writing everything down and monitoring pending tasks: you will be more effective. Recommended: wall calendar (for the room), desktop calendar (for the study), calendar on your computer with alarms and agenda (to take with you everywhere). At first they may seem like too many, but you will appreciate having a reminder everywhere.
- UPDATE. No matter how many calendars and agendas you have, if you don't keep updating them with new information, they won't do you any good. Cross out the tasks performed, write down the pending ones.
- Work more the hours you are more productive, and reduces the workload for less lucid moments. Do you like getting up early or staying up late? If you are one of the first, try to scratch more hours a day by getting up early and start your working day before anyone else to finish it at your lowest hours; If you are one of the second, propose to take hours at dawn.
- Do not overwork. After reading the previous point, you may be thinking of adding 2 or 3 hours to your workday. The regulation establishes the 8 hours as the one that a worker must perform their functions, so do not overdo it and take advantage of your leisure hours. In this work they are as important as the others, since they serve to inspire us and keep us attentive.
- Evita peck on social media/email. Establish certain hours a day to browse and review. For example, one at 8:00 in the morning and another at 20:00. The rest of the time, above all avoid accessing this temptation.
In short: try to organize yourself much better to avoid being caught by the bull. Do you know any other tips to meet deadlines? Or do you have any advice? Do not hesitate to share it with us leaving a comment at the end of the post.
More information - How to budget for graphic design | Tips and Resources, Tips to organize yourself better | GTD method