Deadlines: Are they a pressure or a productivity assist for you?
In the last post, we defined deadlines and agreed on their value. They help us get things done. I always tell people to give creatives, in particular, a deadline. Where their mind goes without one will be the stuff of a future post. Today, we explore the dark sides of deadlines, and there are many.
Ways to work with deadlines
I tackle deadline stress and success through the lens of my greatest body of experience – 40 years of writing for the communications and public relations needs of clients in varied industries and work settings. It yielded a great deal of observation that has been useful.
Like many folks, I can often have more clarity and certainty in my work life than navigating even my ‘pro-level’ personal phases.
With Project 70, my goal is to develop a comprehensive plan that enables me to meet the ultimate deadline. Writing has been my deepest and longest-running professional pursuit, and the rules of writing have yielded the most consistency and success for me. So, I will use marketplace references to ensure this post benefits both work and life rewrite purposes.
Beginning with the end in mind
Thanks to Stephen Covey for this lovely phrase, although at this moment, we look at how we derail the ideal end.
Deadlines are often seen as motivators, but they have a dark side. They do generate stress, encourage overwork, and frequently do not improve performance. People under deadline pressure often make mistakes, produce lower quality products or results and experience burnout.
In the rush to meet deadlines, we can often focus only on the short-term solutions to get us through. So, we get incentives that are misaligned, and we can miss sustainable, long-term improvement. I have often sat fatigued at odd hours, having invested more hours than necessary, kicking myself for having gotten here, yet again, by not heeding the pitfall signs nor working according to my own, established system. I just want to get through. My commitment to producing good work and representing the client well won’t let my standards drop excessively as I ‘underpromised and overdelivered’ way before that phrase entered the best practices pantheon.
Once the right words appeared and clicked into place like a fine-tuned tumbler, it felt great. No matter the hour or how many drafts. But that is me, a solo practitioner who loves words and loves getting it right for clients. Think about what happens along an entire assembly line team or through a chain of command in an office. At any moment, someone might drop out or underperform – throwing off the entire production and projections.
For reference from Covey’s quadrant, as I call it, it helps to “see” your way to what needs to be handled to meet a deadline.
The healthier alternative to deadlines and their advantages
Deadlines are often a ‘guesstimate’. The healthier choice for both a company’s success and the workers involved is to emphasise process over those arbitrary dates.
Consistent, incremental improvement—rather than a frantic push to meet a deadline—creates predictable, sustainable outcomes. Strategies such as preemption points, which involve regular progress reviews and adjustments, and careful queueing disciplines that prioritise the most valuable tasks, help teams deliver higher-quality work more efficiently.
These methods reduce pressure, foster continuous improvement, and allow for flexibility without sacrificing results.
To note: Once a deadline is missed, there is no room or recourse to act productively to either fix what has been derailed or to do better. In my writing life, I have rarely missed a deadline. Creatives live and earn by deadlines, whether assigned by the client or astutely imposed by the writer, artist or other creative agent!
However, in the rare cases where I could not meet a deadline, I informed the client as early as possible and provided a reason why (e.g., the dog ate my homework is not a reasonable excuse), as it pertained to the work. It all leads to delivering a better product. In the therapy world, they say, “It takes as long as it takes”. This can’t be applied loosey goosey to workplace deadlines, but it can be relevant to releasing a better product in the right situation.
Capacity to meet deadlines
Companies, associations, and professionals must have systems and resources, from personnel to equipment, in place to deliver goods and services on time.
On a personal level, managing deadlines effectively requires attention to health, mindset, and meaning. We shouldn’t overlook proper nutrition, hydration, and supplementation to support both body and mind.
In Latin class at a Hebrew school – talk about global application – I learned the phrase: Mens Sana in Corpore Sano. A healthy mind in a healthy body. I have cherished it since, though I often lapse into lesser levels of both. Such is life.
But wait, there’s more beyond just having the energy to show up at your work station to meet standards.
Moderating perfectionism – a rampant cause of procrastination, which chokes deadlines in their tracks, is also on the menu. Having some connection with spiritual or meaningful practices to carry our spirits, plus taking moments to appreciate the present and our surroundings, helps reduce stress. Bonus: It can increase creativity.
Approach deadlines with a healthy mindset, and you can transform them from a source of pressure into tools for growth, learning, and sustained performance.
Recap of solutions on the work front to neutralise the dark side of deadlines
- Be consistent and aim for incremental progress: Small daily improvements add up.
- Preemption points: Regular check-ins to review tasks and adjust scope or strategy – pays attention to quality and gives a chance to tweak workflow. I think we used to call this benchmarks to reach for or the creation of mini deadlines ahead of the big one. For me, input on delivery dates goes onto both my hard copy desk calendar and online. Online, I set intermediate alerts to keep me on track because ‘chunking it down’ can help relieve last-minute cramming of work, giving up as the clock ticks on superior effort or having an unnecessary freak out or paralysing block, just because you couldn’t beat the clock at its game.
Preemption points give you a chance to rejig on the gig at hand and have breathing room.
- Queueing disciplines: Prioritise the most valuable work first, not simply what came first. Again, Stephen Covey and his quadrant. What is urgent and what is important? I can tell you that all of us suffer from what I call ‘I am busy ergo I must be producing syndrome’ at times. When faced with the pressure of a looming deadline, suddenly pushing papers around, cleaning house, bursts of cooking, and the urge to exercise, especially far away from the desk or drawing board, become irresistible to me, freelancers and the home-based workers we now have.
These three strategies reduce pressure, improve quality, and support sustainable performance.
How to apply work deadlines to living well to deadline
As I said, I rarely missed a deadline – for clients. And I took pride in delivering good work, some even brilliant as I dealt with personalities, public-facing policy, delicate public relations and simply snazzy and catchy (now called ‘sticky’) phrasing that helped people and firms make money or advance their cause in the community.
In Vancouver, when I was already winding down my work, a therapist told me that clients don’t usually expect brilliance. They are happy with competence. So, lessons learned in that session. I found that my therapist was indeed working to the minimum expected outcome, yet he heeded the clarion call everywhere in business at that time of ‘Raise your rates’.
It also occurred to me that I might be a perfectionist. It is a phrase I never took on, but clearly working towards elusive perfection probably hobbled me as much as propelled me. And I also understood that perfectionism and fears I hadn’t even thought of as factors likely added greatly to my tendency to procrastinate.
Procrastinate long enough, and you’ll miss out on living a truly good life
Exploration of procrastination will come, for now, a review
Living well with deadlines means remembering the deadlines of life itself. Each day is limited, each moment precious, and each opportunity fleeting. Just as in work, you cannot control outcomes, only the processes that guide your life. By living attentively, prioritising what matters, and embracing continuous growth, you honour both your creative pursuits and the finite time we are given.
With each post, I get closer to formulating a map for what I WANT to be ahead. Join me and comment as to what is important for you to include in your backpack heading into the future. For now, each segment helps me understand my own roadblocks? Are YOU encountering and scaling blocks on your journey?
Living Well with Deadlines in Writing and in Life
Okay, we are back to basics. What our mamas told us and what we learned to address at work
Health, Mindset, and Meaning Matter
Managing deadlines isn’t just about scheduling—your body and mind need support:
- Eat well, hydrate, and supplement wisely.
- Avoid perfectionism; focus on growth and learning.
- Connect with meaning or spirituality; take moments to notice life’s small joys.
And hey! We remember to celebrate and encourage others; let’s not forget to celebrate small achievements now as we experience them. No need to wait till the end of a project or for the big deadline.
The Bigger Picture: Life’s Deadlines
Living well with deadlines means remembering the deadlines of life itself.
Each day is limited, each moment precious, and each opportunity fleeting. Just as in work, you cannot control outcomes, only the processes that guide your life. By living attentively, prioritising what matters, and embracing continuous growth, you honour both your creative pursuits and the finite time we are given.
What do you think? Where are you in the deadline board game? Working? At leisure? Reflecting on living life well to deadline?
No pressure to answer, but if some music will help, here is the iconic Freddie Mercury
