Why do we call a deadline a “dead” line? Will we be dead if we don’t finish before that date and time?
Not actually dead, but worse. If we don’t finish before the deadline, we’ll be faced with embarrassment, awkwardness, humiliation, guilt, and other feelings of unworthiness. These feelings actually help some of us achieve more than what self-confidence, extensive knowledge, detailed planning, and hard work can do.
What makes you study hard just a few days before your paper?
What makes you complete that presentation just before you’re supposed to present it in a meeting?
For most of us, it is not planning, preparing, or confidence that helps in getting things done. It is the scary feeling, the “deadline” feeling, that triggers action to complete an important task.
The deadline is not a “dead” line if you see it from the other side. It is actually a savior-line. It saves us from embarrassment, humiliation, and awkwardness.
Embrace your deadlines more frequently to firmly get things done.