Deadline

A deadline is the time by which some task must be completed. It is imposed by an authority.

Very often, it reflects the time limit that is imposed by the greater authority - for instance, the teacher must have all homework in by the certain time to be able to report fairly to his or her principal that every student had the same chance to do the work.

Deadlines may also be set by the time horizon that comes from something that is not the human authority, but part of nature. For instance, by sunset one must do those tasks requiring daylight. However, the human must observe the sun and decide what light is strong enough to still be daylight, so time limits will still be involved even if one observes the horizon and sets the deadline oneself.

A simple way to remember this is that the time horizon is like the physical horizon where sunset happens, the time limit is the thing people set up to deal with this, and the deadline is the thing powerful people set up to ensure less powerful people comply with the way ay deal with it. guided tour test guided tour test