Planning Makes All the Difference

What can you, personally, do to make sure you meet deadlines for reading/writing assignments?
When it is your responsibility to complete work on time, what measures can you take before the due date to make sure you are on track for timely completion?
Do you set steps that you want to have achieved by a certain date?
Do you try to complete the project a day or two ahead of time to give yourself last-minute recovery time if something goes wrong?
Or, if you do procrastinate and do not currently use good time management, what can you start doing to prepare yourself better for assignments in college and the workplace?