Many times, but not every time. Some emergencies take priority; other times, circumstances left me completely drained and I didn't have the creative energy to come up with a solution; still others were impossible to achieve, but I didn't know it until I tried. I always try to act responsibly, though, when I think I might not meet the deadline. I get in touch with all the people who are affected as soon as possible; I explain the situation — in detail, if they require; I ask for advice and follow it, if it is workable, or I ask for help or an intervention, if it isn't; I organize what I can as best as I can, in case I am required to hand the task over to someone else; but most of all, I don't leave everyone simply hanging, twisting in the wind. Most of the time, if I've looked after the task well enough up to that point, the individuals who requested it of me are very understanding and, once I handle the interference or obstruction, are happy to have me back. Shit happens, as the saying goes.
yup, i had a time where i was ill for nearly the whole school term and the only way to not have to repeat the whole year was learning what i missed and finishing a lot of tasks in the remaining 6 weeks left (while still attending classes half of the day). i discovered a few strategies which made it easier for me: i decided to minimize my social contact, so i explained my situation to my friends first - they supported me in my decision and even gave me their notes and explained what i couldn`t understand by myself. and i made a list of the most important stuff, after 3 hours i switched to another task, ate or went to sleep for an hour and i noticed that i couldn`t get done much late in the evening so i went to bed early and woke up every morning at 3. i didn`t get much sleep but i got it done - even with good grades. i was half-dead afterwards though and not up to date with respect to my friends`lifes...
if you have a task to do with a seemingly impossible deadline, i wish you supporting friends, enough discipline, good organisation and a little good luck -
all the best!
have you ever had a time when you needed to finish a task that was due within a deadline and you experienced difficulty completing it because of illness, family issues, technical disruptions, competing priorities, or other obstacles, and did so successfully?