Excuse Encyclopedia
Funny Excuses for Missing a Deadline
Most real deadlines need an early heads-up, not a clever excuse. But for the kind of low-stakes deadlines you can be self-deprecating about, these work.
For entertainment purposes only
Career-wise, the move is always 'tell them before the deadline, not after.' For comedic retelling among friends, the excuses below are evergreen.
5 Examples
- Was 90% done and then accidentally closed the tab
- Document went into some kind of cloud-storage purgatory
- Was waiting on a teammate's input that never came
- Spent two hours on a 30-minute task because I kept improving it
- Mis-read the deadline as the day after
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Good for
- ✓Internal deadlines
- ✓Low-stakes projects
- ✓Friends who get it
Avoid
- ✗Don't use these excuses with a client. Just deliver the work.
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