Source: http://zenhabits.net/deadlines/
By Leo Babauta
This week, I am cramming out work, because I’m leaving on a cruise that’s going to last almost a month.
I am not usually this productive, but I’m really killing it because I want to get all my work done before I leave.
On the cruise, I have two big projects I’ve set for myself, with a deadline to finish them before the cruise ends.
Before the cruise, I also have a challenge to finish the first 60 lessons of the Pimsleur Spanish course, which I’ve tried and failed to do a few times before (!) but am now going to complete. How am I able to complete it this time? I gave myself a deadline to finish the lessons by the cruise, or my friend Tynan will get to punch me in the face if I don’t.
These are self-imposed deadlines, and they’re absolutely working.
I’m not always a fan of deadlines and goals, but it’s good to be able to use whatever works best for you. If you’re working great without deadlines and goals, then by all means, keep going. But if you’re struggling to push a project forward (or a learning project like language lessons), then you might try a self-imposed deadline.
Here are some things that work for me:
Have an external motivation for meeting the deadline. For example, leaving for my trip is a deadline for all the work I have to do, because I won’t have good internet connections on the trip, so I really need to get pretty much every…