Deadlines

Printer-friendly versionWhat does deadline mean? My dictionary says “time line”. Whose death is meant by “deadline”, is it the “line” that is “dead”? Dealing with deadlines all the time at the receiving end, that is having to tactfully receive submissions or orders past the deadline (and having to do extra work as a result of the dawdler), but really wanting to tell the person “you are too late – go home, try again another time”, I have been thinking about how to change the habits of people to see the deadline as something that is there for a reason and that they have some control over. If only I could come up with another name, or make that deadline flexible, i.e. call it timeline, and make it a period of time rather than a certain time and date. Would it help to know that the “timeline” is Wednesday, October 6 to Friday, October 8, so it becomes a window, therefore leaving some choice to those who are asked to respond? They could respond on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, knowing that Friday is definitely the last day, and Monday won’t do for stragglers.