AUTISM IN THE WORKPLACE: ADVICE TO MEET DEADLINES

Most people who are fortunate to be working will encounter deadlines at some point during their jobs. Deadlines are basically the last date or time that a particular task, activity or event must be completed. They are something of a necessity for businesses in order for them to provide the best service they can for their customers and for other people they are associated with. It is important to meet deadlines as failure to do so can cost time and money.

For example, a shop that wants to sell t-shirts with a new design for Christmas might have a key date when they need to be in the shops by, in order to sell the most they can before Christmas is over. This is in order to make a profit. The manufacturer will therefore have a date that they need to make all the t-shirts by, in order to send them to their distributers for delivering to the shops for sale. If they miss or go over this date or deadline, then the whole process is delayed and the shop could lose money as they are unable to sell enough t-shirts on time.

Deadlines are also critical for the individual worker too, as they are often used as a way of checking that they are doing their job properly. A factory worker who packs items in boxes may have a deadline to have a certain number of packed boxes by a particular time. An office worker might have to produce a report every month to their boss, which has to be submitted at a certain time. If the number of boxes packed or the report is late on a regular basis, then this could signify that the worker is underperforming and could lead to consequences such as performance reviews, discipline or even the person losing their job.

This is why it is important that deadlines are met within the workplace and why they can cause anxiety, especially for autistic people at work who are more likely to worry and stress about them.

However, don’t worry. Deadlines are fine so long as you put in place systems to manage them. I am going to talk now about how I cope with them in my employment and what helps me as an autistic person to organise and (most of the time) meet them. I work in an office where quotes and drawings are produced for customers in the construction industry. In a typical week we can have 30 to 60 individual jobs for different customers with deadlines ranging from two days to two weeks depending on the task. Normally, as they come into the office, my manager programmes these into a work log and then every Monday morning they are divided up between each member of our team, dependant on when they are required.

This means that I could have say 6 to 12 tasks to do in a week alongside any urgent jobs that may come in also. The overall work log produces our own personal log of jobs that we need to complete.

My first advice for autistic people is this: If you have several tasks that need completing, then produce a clear list of what all the tasks are and when they are needed for. My work list is generated for me from an Excel sheet, but it’s fine to write these down in a notepad. Making lists of what you need to do at work for the month, week or even day, will help you see and organise the order in which to do things. Larger tasks can be broken down into smaller ones and individual deadlines can be set for these. Making a to do list at the start of the day will help you stick to a timetable.

For example, imagine if a task involves placing stickers onto cards, folding them and putting them into envelopes and you need a hundred of these done in two days time. Rather than do each card one at a time, you could put all the stickers on first and set a personal smaller deadline to get that done in a morning, another deadline to get them folded by the end of the day and the final task of putting then into envelopes the next day. This helps to break the overall task into manageable chunks whilst ensuring that the final deadline is met. It also creates routine which can also help autistic people in the workplace.

Written lists are great but a lot of autistic people, including myself are visual thinkers. Colour coding is really helpful to aid you when working to a deadline. My work log is on Excel so each task is colour coded to help me see what needs to be done first. Jobs that need to go out in two days are coloured yellow, jobs with no deadline date are coloured grey, they then turn pink when they are required within a week and finally turn red when they are needed immediately. Therefore I know to look at the jobs in order of red, yellow, pink and grey when deciding what I need to do next. Use a colour scheme that works for you. Also you don’t have to use a computer — a good set of highlighters will do just fine. A visual timetable can be many different things, there are many examples online so try to find one that works for you.

Having a set of files, or a system of trays, to put work into is another way of organising tasks. You then know what activities need doing in what order. Likewise make use of modern computer programmes and apps to help you. For example, set deadline reminders in software such as “Outlook” or apps like “Brain in Hand”. Ten minutes each day used for organising what you will be doing and when, will help you to meet deadlines and more importantly control stress and anxiety about missing a date or time.

If you are planning your working day in this manner, make sure that you don’t fill all your time with work tasks. It is impossible for anyone to work every minute of their day — they need breaks and time for other things. This is particularly important for autistic people who might need a bit of time away from the work environment to escape any sensory issues or social overload. Pencil in two or three ten minute “stim” breaks in your day, in case you need them if feeling overloaded. This will make you more productive and better equipped to meet deadlines in the long run.

A good manger will understand this. Although it should be recognised that not everyone works for a good boss and in terms of autistic people, not everyone will have disclosed to their company that they are on the spectrum. This can make managing deadlines a lot harder. I have worked for bosses like this and it is not easy but I always tried to manage my workload myself to some degree. Fortunately I now work for a great boss who knows I am autistic and can help me to manage my time. In fact he does this for all his staff, so when programming in work he never fills everyone’s time completely, to allow for emergency jobs coming in and office down time. I’m grateful for this.

Managers are a key part of helping you to meet deadlines. My final bit of advice is to communicate regularly with your manager to understand what is required and when. Remember that sometimes tasks may take longer than expected for a variety of reasons. This will mean that with all the best intentions in the world, you would not be able to complete them in time to meet a deadline. Don’t be afraid to go to your manager and explain this. They might be able to help, for example give some of your workload to colleague to free up more time for you, or talk to the customer and extend the deadline or shorten the task into smaller parts for you.

Even if you are meeting your deadlines it is good advice to have regular meetings with your manager to access if the level or workload is okay for you. They are there to ensure that the department performs the tasks required to meet deadlines. A good manager should be monitoring you anyway, but they can only do this if they are talking and meeting with you regularly. Remember it is better to say that you think you are unable to meet a deadline as soon as you know that you can’t make it, than to miss it completely. If you tell your manager early on then things can be done about it.

I am not going to talk about disclosing being autistic here, but it can help a manager to understand how you perform in your job and they can take this into consideration when organising deadlines. If they know you are autistic more procedures can be put into place that suit your specific needs.

Finally, remember that it is impossible to always hit a deadline. I hate missing a deadline and it really stresses me out. I know this will be true for many autistic people in the workplace. Sometimes though, no matter how hard you work, how well you plan your time and how much you communicate with your manager, unforeseen circumstances means that it just happens. If it does then try not to panic. Take a step back and look at it logically. Do you miss many deadlines? If you don’t then it will be obvious that this deadline was unrealistic for the work you were trying to do. Most companies would welcome a member of staff that hits 99% of deadlines! Be apologetic about it to your manager and if you speak directly to them, the customer also. Give them a correct date or time for when the work will be finished and make sure you deliver on this.

If you do find that you are missing more deadlines then look at what you can do to improve this and set up a meeting with your manager or HR to discuss what can be done. Look for the areas where you have control and come up with a plan. It can also help to talk to other work colleagues for their take on the situation. It might not be just you struggling with the workload or you might be able to use some of their strategies too.

Oh and remember to feel good about hitting a deadline! That feeling of satisfaction of completing a piece of good work on time can be a real energy booster. Enjoy it and use it to motivate you so when you have another deadline it won’t seem as scary because you know if you hit it, then you’re going to feel positive!