How to Handle a Missed Deadline as a Freelancer

There is a lot of flexibility associated with being a freelancer, but there are also a lot of responsibilities. One of the most common is meeting deadlines.

When freelancing, apart from the quality of your work, your clients don’t always have many ways to assess you. Missing an important deadline can harm your reputation, but try not to panic if it happens. In this blog post, we’ll explain:

• How to handle a missed deadline as a freelancer
• How to avoid it happening again

How to Handle a Missed Deadline

While missing a deadline is less than ideal, it is not the end of the world. Here are five strategies you can implement if you’ve fallen behind:

1. Don’t panic
2. Communicate honestly (and as soon as possible)
3. Offer a sincere apology
4. Provide a new deadline
5. Offer compensation

1. Don’t Panic

Stressing about the situation will get you nowhere: It might distract you so much that you can fall even further behind. Try to stay calm and work to remedy the situation.

2. Communicate Honestly and as Soon as Possible

If you know in advance that you’ll miss a deadline, don’t keep it a secret. Let your client know as soon as possible what is going on, which you can easily do with a respectful email.

It will be more frustrating for them if you wait until the last minute to explain what happened. If you’ve been communicating frequently with your client anyway, they likely won’t be put off if you are running a little late.

Don’t make excuses, complain, or volunteer personal information. Just explain the delay and tell them how much extra time you need.

3. Apologize

Offering a sincere apology can go a long way. When you mention the delay, make sure you’re sorry. A few simple words can avoid bad feelings between you and your client.

4. Provide a New Deadline

To ensure your client is relaxed, tell them exactly how much extra time you need and set a new deadline. Explain how much work you’ve done and how long it will take you to complete the project.

5. Offer Compensation

In most situations, offering compensation isn’t necessary, but if you know your delay will be inconvenient, you may consider it. Along with an apology, you could offer a small discount on your rate or a discount on your next project for them.

How to Prevent Missed Deadlines

If you have missed a deadline and want to make sure it never happens again, here are three strategies to help you:

1. Set Realistic Deadlines

You need a realistic understanding of your abilities and how long it takes you to get work done. Figure out exactly how long the project will take, then add a little extra time as a buffer in case something unforeseeable happens.

2. Keep Track of Your Time

Make a daily schedule. Determine your most productive hours of the day so you know exactly when you should be focusing on work.

Daily checklists can also be effective. Organize the stages of your project into a checklist and mark each one off as you finish them. In that way, it will be easy to visualize how much more work you have to do on the project.

There are a number of other time management tools that can help you stay on track.

3. Analyze Your Past Mistakes

Missing a deadline and upsetting a client can haunt you. You need to shake off any feelings of guilt and critically analyze what went wrong. After you isolate your mistake, you can come up with a strategy to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Becoming a Freelancer

Freelancing can be an incredibly rewarding career. A great option is to become a freelance editor or proofreader. If you want to take your first steps on that journey, our courses can help you whether you’re a complete beginner or want to polish your existing skills. 

Get started with a free trial today.