Use Relatives/Spouses to Give Yourself Firmer Deadlines

Being a procrastinator isn't a job-destroying trait—unless you're unable to actually buckle down and get the work done when you need to. The Dumb Little Man blog offers advice for when you're down to the wire and need to defeat your own worst tendencies, including this:

You may want to ask a family member (preferably someone such as a parent or spouse that you respect enough to do what they say) to set a deadline for you. If even this doesn't help, you'll need to get serious. Have that same family member give you a deadline and impose some sort of consequence if you don't meet it. With your reality TV on the line, you should have a much easier time getting to work.

Knowing I'd miss "reality TV" might actually motivate some of our readers, I'm sure, but you get the idea: Having a wife say "No 'Lost' season premiere until it's done" can really make the lettering on your calendar seem real. Have you ever used this method or anything similar to crank out that last-minute project? Let us know in the comments. Photo by basykes.