For a long time, I thought the problem was a lack of organization. Then I discovered it was something else: I only ever knew when something was due, never when it should start.
Year 1
Every deadline turned into a last-minute scramble — even ones I'd known about for weeks.
Year 2
I tried apps, planners, alarms. They'd work for a few days, then quietly disappear from my routine.
Year 3
I realized the problem wasn't remembering deadlines — it was starting early enough that they never became urgent.
Today
I use one single rule: if a task has a deadline, it also gets a start date, not just a due date.
"The change wasn't remembering more — it was starting sooner."
That simple distinction — start date versus due date — is what actually changed my relationship with deadlines.
