How to help students manage deadlines

Deadlines. I don’t know about you but, to me, that word shouts in my head as though someone is saying it loudly and aggressively through a megaphone.

Despite this, I find it hard to get things done without a deadline – especially things that I am not particularly interested in.

Also, if those deadlines are flexible or extended, that is the worst thing ever for me because I will keep avoiding what I need to do, resulting in increasing anxiety and a sense of impending doom. Therefore concrete deadlines are imperative for me to work efficiently and effectively.

Strangely, even though a person with a megaphone is inside my head repeating the word “deadline” over and over again, deadlines make me feel safe and secure.

That’s just me, though – how do students feel about deadlines?

Deadlines: the students’ view

I asked a group of Grade 10 (Year 11) students at my school to use one word to describe how they felt about deadlines. The students were a mix of those who always met deadlines and those who often struggled with them. This was the result:

• Stressful (mentioned numerous times)
• Nervous (second highest)
• Procrastination
• Imposing
• Prepared
• Terrible
• Pressured
• Obligated
• Happy
• Neutral
• Necessary
• Good
• Punctual.

I found it interesting that it didn’t matter whether the student always met deadlines or struggled with them: the overwhelming majority of words used to describe how a deadline felt to them was negative.

How to help students manage deadlines

We all know that deadlines are important. We also know that they can cause difficult emotions. So how can we support our students in managing their university deadlines effectively?

I followed up with my students and asked them. How could I, as their future pathways adviser, help them next year to ensure that their university application deadlines were met with the least amount of stress and least sense of impending doom possible?

This was their response:

• We need to know about deadlines early, and have resources to study and prepare for them
• A supported quiet study space after school to work on applications and get help
• Being kind and open-minded
• Giving some time to go over our applications and offer feedback
• Encouraging us to start applying early enough
• Regular meetings. One-to-one meetings would help keep us accountable and help us stay on top of our deadlines
• Telling us what to do way in advance and giving reminders
• Checking in on our progress
• Providing consistent information
• A structured checklist of everything we need to do and why (because this helps me see my progress and what I still need to do)
• A monthly timetable with each university’s deadlines
• A clear deadline would help, since sometimes different deadlines get mixed together
• Setting “fake” deadlines for a first-draft application, for example
• A very detailed timeline calendar that can be shared with everyone, but which we can edit for our own preferences – for example, what universities they are applying for, when the deadlines for applications are.

Again, there was no difference between the two groups of students in terms of what they needed to manage deadlines effectively. Both groups requested very similar support.

The value of student voice

Many of us are already doing these things to support our students. Individual meetings, notifications of deadlines in advance and reminders are fundamental to our roles. 

However, I look at these responses and think that perhaps I need to develop a more structured approach. I love the idea one student had of a detailed timeline calendar that students can then edit to reflect their own university choices. I also love the checklist idea: as someone whose middle name is “checklist”, I can’t believe I haven’t yet used this approach with my students.

Student voice is so important. If we want to know how best to support our students, we have the answers right there in front of us, every day. We just need to take the time to ask.