Reverse-planned four deadlines and flagged the two that were quietly about to blow up

Reverse-planned your 4 deadlines at ~2 tasks/day. Two are in the danger zone — the brand guidelines block the website launch, and you're starting too late. ## Critical path (text) ``` [Brand guidelines] ──▶ [Website copy] ──▶ [Website build] ──▶ LAUNCH (Jun 20) due Jun 6 due Jun 11 due Jun 18 │ └──▶ [Pitch deck] (Jun 13, parallel — not on critical path) ``` ## Deadline risk | Deliverable | Due | Work left | Safe-by date | Status | |-------------|-----|-----------|--------------|--------| | Brand guidelines | Jun 6 | 6 tasks (~3 days) | Jun 4 | RED — agency dependency, no buffer | | Website copy | Jun 11 | 5 tasks | Jun 9 | YELLOW — depends on guidelines | | Pitch deck | Jun 13 | 4 tasks | Jun 11 | GREEN — parallel, on track | | Website build | Jun 18 | 8 tasks | Jun 16 | YELLOW — tight, no slack | ## Buffer strategy Don't pad each task — pool a **2-day shared buffer before launch (Jun 18–20)**. Critical-chain style: protects the whole chain, not individual estimates. ## Scope-reduction candidate **Website build:** ship 4 core pages for launch, defer the blog and case-study templates to a fast-follow. Removes 3 tasks from the critical path. ## Milestone checkpoints - Jun 4: Brand guidelines draft approved (gate — if slipped, escalate to agency same day). - Jun 9: Copy locked. - Jun 16: Build feature-complete, content freeze. ## 14-day daily priority (next 5 shown) 1. **Today:** Chase agency on guidelines — this is the single biggest risk. 2. **Tomorrow:** Start website copy outline (can begin before guidelines finalize). 3. **Day 3:** Copy first draft + deck wireframe. 4. **Day 4:** Guidelines sign-off; copy section 2. 5. **Day 5:** Copy review; deck content.