Gmail - Gmail - The Art of the Self-Imposed Deadline - Steven DeMaio - HarvardBusiness.org - Sent Using Google Toolbar - shekharkashyap@gmail.com - Sent Using Google Toolbar - shekharkashyap@gmail

Gmail - Gmail - The Art of the Self-Imposed Deadline - Steven DeMaio - HarvardBusiness.org - Sent Using Google Toolbar - shekharkashyap@gmail.com - Sent Using Google Toolbar - shekharkashyap@gmail: "Gmail - The Art of the Self-Imposed Deadline - Steven DeMaio - HarvardBusiness.org - Sent Using Google Toolbar - shekharkashyap@gmail.com

For people who work for themselves, the self-imposed deadline is a fact of life. Whether you're starting a business, writing a dissertation, or consulting for a dozen clients, paying attention only to your drop-dead dates would mean never meeting them. You obviously have to set up interim goals along the way.

But the art of self-scheduling is not unique to entrepreneurs and PhD students. It's one that I actively -- and successfully -- practiced for the two decades I spent working for other people. And it's now making my transition to freelance life a lot smoother. Here are the self-scheduling techniques that worked for me really well in the office -- and that remain the hallmarks of my working style out on the professional fringes:

1. Start your day as early as possible. Even if you're not a morning person, there's something intoxicating about planning to do A and B, and then discovering you've done A, B, and C by noon. Seeing C in the rearview mirror at lunch also makes D and E look a lot"