Deadlines, Deadlines & Big Public Deadlines: The Key to Personal Productivity

I admit to being in a bit of a funk during the summer of 2021 and not due to any bad reasons. Actually, it’s been pretty awesome overall, feeling healthy and happy in general. But without the spur of fear & poverty driving me, this has also led me to feeling very lazy and pretty unmotivated in general. 

So trying to get back to some mode of personal productivity as I still have responsibilities and lots of things to do. Having a “To do list” split between quick wins and longer term projects is an important and good first step for prioritization. Scheduling and Inputting them in my calendar is also important: if it does end up there, I won’t have the time or awareness to do it. Yet this is not enough. And I think this is a very big problem for people who are freelancers, self-employed or independent business people. Even for those of us who pride themselves on self-discipline it can be hard to get out of inertia. 

So I go back to what has worked for me in the past. Open, public & external deadlines. Those of us who have worked in jobs before know this well. When you say you are going to get something done by a certain day and time, you better have it done then as there are other people counting on you. You are accountable to your boss, your clients and your colleagues. Deadlines force a sense of urgency and pressure. 

It’s the same as why when you want to get good at running you sign up for a marathon. When you learn Mixed Martial Arts or Boxing, it’s a good idea to sign up for a public fight a few months down the road. Or working on a presentation for a conference you promised to speak at. You better get it done or you will look like an unprepared idiot (which reminds me, incidentally i need to work on a few myself soon). This is also why I push some of my startup founders to make public declarations to customers on when they will launch their product or new feature. Without it, most engineering and tech focused founders just end up building forever.

We end up doing nothing or other random things show up to eat up our time. We can’t help it. It’s in our wiring as humans, when we get comfortable, we get lazy. It’s about preserving as much energy as possible at least until the next big emergency or some food comes by. Which leads to the funny saying “Why stand when you can sit, Why sit when you can sleep.”

This is why public deadlines are so critical. We all need these forcing functions to push ourselves forward. Social pressure is powerful and also accounts for why “Cohort Based” education and classes are now en vogue. Having peers around you certainly helps drive you forward. 

This is also why I am so fascinated by the growing “Build in Public” movement I see in the startup and business world these days. I think this is best exemplified by the fine folks at FAST & MicroAcquire. The benefit of showing what you are working on as things develop and the sharing of the hard lessons along the way. People can’t help but cheer you on and jump on your side. But I think another reason why this is growing is the public deadlines you give yourself: you are forced to launch. 

As Thomas Vato remarked, 

“Without a deadline, your work is never over. The power of deadlines leads your work to completion. What is done poorly is better than what is 20% done perfectly assuming a person operates on a progress-driven mindset. Then you can improve to make things less bad faster.” 

Public deadlines are a great tool to get stuff done, Use them wisely!