I find it amazing that I work much more effectively and efficiently when the things on my task list have real deadline.  Yes, I put deadlines on all my tasks as recommended by whatever planning guru that you want to follow.  However, when there is no urgency to the deadline, it becomes easy to slip the task to the next day, the next week, or the next year.  Soon, the days, weeks and years pile up and that "thing" still remains undone.

As project managers, we start assignments with the client's dream of completion sparkling in their eyes.  Since a project is supposed to have an end, that dream does have a deadline.  One of our major tasks is to assess whether the deadline is real or not.

When all the clocks turned over for the year 2000, programmers all around the world breathed a sigh of relief because their very real deadline passed mostly without incident.  The dream of a smooth transition with that deadline in their sights was a very real goal.

Every year the Pasadena Tournament of Roses puts on a parade that start on New Years morning.  New Years Day comes precisely at the same time every year.  It is every participant and volunteer's dream to have as a goal a "flawless" parade.  Every year that dream with a deadline is realized, perhaps not flawlessly, but as close to flawless as the real world will allow.

The challenge then becomes to find the real deadlines for both our business and personal dreams.  Once those real deadlines are identified, then we can truly talk about achieving our goals.