Why is it important to start deadlines early?

Many students when hearing the word “deadline” immediately become stressed or anxious. But deadlines are really not that scary, under one and very important condition – that you start them early!

In this article, I would like to explain why it is so important to start working on your deadlines early to avoid unnecessary stress in the future and achieve excellent marks in the end!

Why you should start your deadlines early?

At the beginning of each term, you are usually given the exact list of all assignments and deadlines required for each module. This is because your tutors want to allow you to plan your work through the semester appropriately so that you don’t run the risk of failing any assignments or struggling with an excessive workload. Therefore, I strongly encourage you to take advantage of that!

If you start your deadlines early, you:

1. Gain peace of mind

Imagine starting your assignment a week before the deadline and suddenly realising that you don’t understand what is required from you. This only leads to stress and the risk of failing to meet the requirements of the learning outcomes. Of course, you can always reach out to your tutors asking for help, but their support will be limited because your and their time will be limited. Also, they had probably explained the assignment several times so far, so they will immediately know that a student was not paying attention.

2. Make the most of your module

Sometimes, I hear students saying, “what’s the point of starting this assignment now when the actual due date is in 2 months?” Well, I can tell you why. First of all, assignments are usually strongly linked to the module content. They enable you to apply the theoretical knowledge gained during lectures to more practical examples you’re required to present throughout the assessment. If you start working on it early, you will automatically start picking up useful points explained by tutors during lectures which you can then apply to your assignment.

3. Increase your chance of getting a good mark

Tutors always offer additional assessment support, either through drop-in sessions and 1-1 appointments; however, these usually take place further in advance of the deadline and might require from you to already have a brief outline of your work. If you don’t start working on this early, you simply lose the opportunity to gain their support.

Also, starting your deadlines early will enable you to gain a better understanding of what you’re writing about. You will be able to make a clear plan and still have time to make any amendments when proofreading. To achieve a good mark, you are usually required to apply excellent critical thinking skills, which may be difficult to achieve if you don’t have much time to complete your assessment. Therefore, if you start on your deadline early, you will increase the chance of giving a thorough and comprehensive answer to the given assignment question.

I hope this article has encouraged you to start your deadlines early – and if you’re not convinced yet, just think about your future self that would be so grateful for having completed most of the work before deadlines and avoiding all the stress that comes with the workload! 😊