How not to ‘do’ December deadlines

“I don’t do December deadlines” I told everyone at work several years ago “neither do the projects and programmes I lead”. I waited for someone to kick-off, or prove to me that an end of year deadline isn’t completely arbitrary. Instead, clients and colleagues expressed relief.

The funny thing is, that as humans we have an incredibly weak grasp of time. This week, the first week of December we believe that we have more time than we do. That we can achieve incredible feats. We absolutely can finish that project, whilst planning to host excessive numbers of family and friends in the perfectly decorated house, having nailed the (sustainable) gift buying, and made appearances at all the best parties. By the time December 24th comes around we give up, laugh at our foolishness and remember what is important. Joy. Love. Connection. Shall we remember this lesson now, and save ourselves three weeks of stress?

Unfortunately, our poor grasp of time extends to globally-critical deadlines. Which is closer, the 2050, binding, science-based target to meet net zero, or 1997? (I had to triple-check with a calculator).