“If you thinkyou’re going to turn in higher quality work if you have an extra day or two, you should proactively ask for more time,” says Ashley Whillans, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who studies time and time poverty, a phenomenon she defines as “the feeling of having too many things to do and not enough time in the day to do them.” Some 80 percent of working adults report experiencing this time crunch. Asking for an extension is one way to alleviate some of that pressure.
First, determine whether a deadline is flexible or hard. Whillans’s research suggests that just under half of deadlines are the internal, adjustable type, which is a good thing for would-be requesters because asking for more time from organizations outside your own could be much harder. Before you ask, carefully consider how much extra time you need to complete the task. Be mindful of what psychologists call “planning fallacy,” or the tendency to think things will take less time than they actually will. Whillans suggests asking for the “upper bounds” of your estimate. If you think you need two more hours, say you need four.
If possible, ask in person rather than over email, telephone or Zoom. “In-person requests are more likely to be fulfilled,” Whillans says. It might feel easier to ask remotely, but it will also feel easier for the other person to say no under those conditions. When you ask for more time, focus on how it will result in better work. Don’t over-explain extenuating circumstances. “Under a deadline you’re freaked out about speed,” Whillans says. Often what matters more is quality.
Worldwide, women are more likely to be time-constrained than men. Whillans’s research suggests women disproportionately avoid asking for more time to complete work tasks, and the resulting stress undermines their physical and emotional well-being. That reticence is due, in part, to a fear of retribution. Don’t assume you will be penalized. Whillans found that women requesting extensions were not, in fact, judged more harshly than men, and that people proactively asking to extend deadlines were generally seen as more committed and not less so. (After three requests that positive view tends to turn.) If you find yourself constantly needing extensions, try to talk informally with your peers to see if the feeling is shared. Maybe the sense of unmet urgency is not a personal failing but an organizational one. “Ask yourself,” Whillans says, “is this a structural problem?”
