If you find yourself constantly struggling to meet impossible deadlines at work, it’s worth stepping back and taking a different approach to the problem. Here are six strategies that might help you cope.

倘若工作中的你一直苦于手忙脚乱应对各种各样不可能完成的期限，那么，是时候停下脚步去寻求解决问题的另一种方法了，这里介绍了六种可能对你会有帮助的策略。

1. Look at your colleagues.

If you have colleagues who do similar work, do they also face similar deadlines? If so, how do they meet them? Are they starting earlier, planning differently, pulling in additional help, or using any other strategies that you can copy?

1.环顾一下你的同事。

如果有同事和你做类似的工作，看一看他们也面临这相似的期限吗？如果答案是肯定的，看他们是如何处理的？是开始的早呢，还是计划有所不同？是引进了外援，还是使用了其他你可以参考的策略？

2. Break the project down differently.

Often much of a project—say, 85 percent—can be accomplished quickly, and it’s the remaining 15 percent that will take much longer. It’s worth asking if you can take longer with that more time-consuming 15 percent. Sometimes if you ask you’ll discover that as long as you get certain pieces of the work done by the deadline, it’s OK to take longer on other parts.

2.把整块项目分成不同部分。

一个项目通常有85%的工作是可以迅速完成的，而另外的15%可能会相对需要多花些时间。那么这时值得你请示上司是否可以为那15%多花些时间。通常请示后你就会发现只要在期限前完成工作的一部分，你就可以有更多时间完成其他的部分了。

3. Tell your manager what you can do.

Your manager doesn’t want to just be told that you can’t meet a deadline without getting some indication of what you could do. Instead of just saying a deadline is impossible, try saying something like, “With only 10 days, I can do X and Y, and I’ll need to modify Z in the following days. And we won’t have finished fully testing it, but that could be wrapped up two days later. Would that work?”

3.告诉你的上司哪些是你可以完成的。

告诉你的经理你能做什么，他可不想只听到你告诉他你没法在截止日期前完成工作。你应该给他些提示让他知道你能做什么。不要总是说在截止日前完成工作不可能之类的话，试试说点别的，比方说：“10天的时间，我可以完成甲和乙，接着我需要调试丙，但是10天之内不能完成对丙的测试工作，但如果再有两天时间的话，肯定能完成。这样你看怎么样？”

4. If the problem is chronic, raise it as a big-picture issue.

Aside from talking with your manager about deadlines for a specific project, make sure you address the pattern as well. For instance, you could say something like, “I’ve noticed that we sometimes have different ideas about what are realistic timeframes for many projects. I want to be able to do the job well and deliver a good product, but sometimes we’re given deadlines that aren’t possible to meet, not if the product is going to be any good. I believe in pushing myself and I think you know I work hard, but I’m concerned that we’re on a different page from Department X about how long these projects take. Can we talk about how we might be able to address this?” (Note that this language puts you and your manager on the same side, rather than attributing the problem to your manager herself.)

4.如果这种问题是长期存在的，要把它当做一个重要问题来提出。

除了与你的上司谈论关于具体项目的期限之外，也要特别注意你的讲话方式，比如你可以这样说，“我注意到在不少项目上，我们经常会对其具体时间表产生分歧。我希望把工作做好，提交出一个完美的作品，但通常时间不足，不足以将作品做到美的程度。我会一再的往前赶，我想你也知道我工作很努力，但我担心关于甲部门这些项目的耗时问题上我们存在分歧。我们是否能讨论一下彼此是怎么想的呢？”（注意这种讲话把你和你的上司放在同一战线上，而不是把问题全推给了上司）

5. If your manager pre-dates you at the company, ask if your predecessors were able to meet similar deadlines and, if so, what they might have done differently than you.

You might find that there are shortcuts that you don’t realize your boss wouldn’t mind you taking. You might be aiming for more perfection than she is, and she might be willing to trade perfection for speed. You won’t know if you don’t ask.

5.如果你的上司把你的期限提前了，询问一下你的前辈们是否能同样在这一期限之前完成工作，如果答案肯定，那么寻求一下他们和你做的有何不同。

你可能会发现一些捷径，你不知道你的上司并不介意采取这些捷径。你可能做的会比他更好，而他有可能愿意牺牲完美来换取速度。如果不问的话你永远都不会知道。

6. Finally, consider with an open mind whether the deadlines might not really be so crazy.

It’s entirely possible that yours is a company with chronically unrealistic deadlines and expectations, but it might also be a company that strives to be exceptional and thus gets things done faster than industry averages. If you’re used to a slower pace, it might take a while to get used to the warpspeed environment of your high-performing employer (and if you never do, that might point to a bad fit). It’s very hard to evaluate this objectively when you’re struggling, but try. Look around at your colleagues. Are they struggling too?

6.用开放的思想考量一下，这一期限或许并不是真的疯狂到不可达到。

当然，你所在的公司完全有可能是一家长期设定一些不切实际期限和期望的公司，但也有可能是一家努力追求卓越以期以高于行业平均水平的速度解决问题的公司。如果你以前是个慢性子，可能需要花些时间来适应这种追求高效率的老板创造的飞速工作的环境（如果不这样做的话，可能会有损健康）。在你手忙脚乱挣扎工作的时候是很难这样考量的，但是可以一试，环顾一下你的同事，他们也同样地在手忙脚乱地挣扎吗？

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