April 15 is a deadline no wise taxpayer can ignore. Various people view deadlines differently. Starting tasks just hours, or minutes, before needed shows a disregard for quality work within a deadline. This lack of preparation and forethought creates mistakes costing time and money. While you may work well under pressure, you may also get the reputation of not being dependable. Authors who missed more than one deadline move onto the list of “Should we use them again?”

At the heart of time management, one finds discipline. People who hit routine deadlines typically use intermediate deadlines. Athletes running five miles do so one stride at a time making longer distances just a few more steps. People avoiding bigger tasks (or missing deadlines) failed to view the big task as a series of several smaller tasks.

April 15 may very well be the most notable deadline in America and yet many miss it every year. If you have trouble hitting deadlines ask yourself the following questions.

Are you taking on too much?

Are you letting other tasks stand in the way of higher priorities?

Are you spending too much time on non-work or non-essential activities?

Are you procrastinating most of the time?

Are you letting others down frequently?

Are you always late and can always explain it?

Uncle Sam does not accept excuses and neither should you. Each of these questions is correctable if you look at the task differently. Turn each question above into a positive statement committing to new disciplines. Use a system that allows you smaller incremental planning, work hard, and give yourself a chance to review the work before the deadline. With enough time management and steady work, you can hit those dreaded deadlines and do so with quality work others come to rely on making you a valuable player.