How Do You Track Deadlines?


Some people keep a giant calendar listing all of their deadlines. Others use online tools like Google Calendar or ReminderFox to keep track of important dates. Whatever your strategy, I think we can all agree that deadlines are pretty darn important.

I use an Excel spreadsheet that lists all my past, current, and future writing assignments. Upcoming deadlines are in green and projects I’ve completed are in black. I reserve red for when checks are overdue, which (knock on wood) doesn’t happen very often. Admittedly, it’s rather low-tech compared to the other options out there, but it works. After all, Excel is pretty versatile.

What about you? How do you ensure that you never miss a deadline?


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Susan Johnston is a freelance writer/blogger who has contributed to publications including The Boston Globe, Mint.com’s blog, WomenEntrepreneur.com, and Yahoo! HotJobs. Her own blog, UrbanMuseWriter.com, covers tips on productivity, brainstorming, and more for fellow writers.

Discussion

  1. Adam Huckeby on the 17th June

    I use Lotus Notes To Do lists, with due dates – then sync the list to my calendar – on the computer and on my blackberry. It allows me to track the deadline, move it, make notes on project needs, and when the project is over, I mark the item “complete” and have an ongoing record of what we’ve accomplished.

    For the items that don’t rank a listing – reviews, the call I need to make, the review pending, etc…, I use post-its on the wall of my office…when finished, just remove from the wall and discard.

    Just found it…and love the blog!

  2. Ryan on the 17th June

    Anxiety, mostly. Producteev2 for the rest.

  3. Nathan A. on the 17th June

    I use iCal which syncs with my iPhone and Google Calendar (for easy sharing with colleagues). The system works really great for me.

    The benefit of using iCal on my Mac is that many of the productivity applications I use integrate with iCal… so my events and to-do’s appear in multiple places… after all, “out of sight, out of mind”

  4. Phillip on the 17th June

    I use Ical which synchs with my iphone

  5. Brandscaping on the 18th June

    I’ve got a low tech white board, that I set up at the beginning of each month,.
    I take a snapshot of it before I erase it, and store the image in an invoice folder.

    I’m curious – do the methods listed above prevent the “whooshing noise they make as they go by” ? 🙂

  6. Well I don’t have to do write down deadlines.

    But I do have to sometimes write tasks which need to be done on a day. I use the calender on my Nokia E71. Pretty basic stuff, but the tasks remain on the home screen of my mobile, and I never forget to do them.

  7. nXqd on the 27th June

    I simple tracks them with Google Calendar. I really focus one inbox 🙂 So task – gcal as the simple place. Get your job done 🙂

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