Harvard Business Review happened to discuss something today which has been on my mind for several weeks: timelines. 

Here’s an excerpt: ‘It’s no surprise that many of us overload our workday, assuming we can take on many tasks in a small amount of time. Yet, at the end of the day, we’re stunned to find that work remains unfinished. Despite past evidence, our predictive engines gum up, and we’re convinced we’ll be able to achieve the extraordinary in an ordinary day. This is called “magical thinking,” and it can cause you to disappoint others, miss deadlines, feel depleted, and lose your inspiration.’

Heather Chavin of GoGoDone (a thriving online community where people stop procrastinating and get the work done) provides a brilliant recommendation. Estimate how long the task will take. Multiply the time estimate by 3. That’s right: TRIPLE your time estimates.

Heather’s advice may sound a bit extreme, but I agree with it.

Anyone who knows me would be shocked to hear me recommend this. I haven’t missed a single deadline in the past decade where everything is always ‘due yesterday.’

You can later negotiate the time so it works for all parties—but start with the tripled time as your baseline.

I have NEVER seen people lose clients due to long deadlines. I HAVE seen people lose clients by delivering messy work to meet unrealistic deadlines.

Who are you really serving by setting fast deadlines without thinking through them? Who would you be serving by carving out sufficient time?