Writing, marketing and technology
I’m reading Max Hastings Finest Years
This is a slightly different problem from the one I discussed in November which involves doing stuff at the last minute because a client didn’t ask you soon enough (We need this yesterday – how do you react?).
Robert Cialdini (author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
What do you think?
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Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He edits Golf Hotel Whiskey and writes the Forbes Aviator column.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Deadlines do for me what a battery does for the Energizer bunny: they get me going — focused, concentrated, drinking up every ounce of the positive stress a deadline can trigger.
Yes, Patricia, that’s true for me too. But why? Wouldn’t it be more efficient and productive to schedule work around some other criteria than a semi-arbitrary deadline. This is really the question.
First of all, I think I am an Englishman. In order for the consistency principle to work, you have to believe that failure to meet the deadline is associated with something negative. In the case of freelance writers the negatives manifest in a form of deteriorating relationship with the client or even losing the client. Even the need to be consistent stems from that primeval fear of failure.
Food for thought: how do you motivate a writer deep in his comfort zone who cannot lose the client due to extremely good relationships?
.-= Honza´s last blog ..The Case for Specialisation – BehindTheSpin.com =-.
Interesting question. I think the best motivation is self-discipline but cookies work pretty well too. Matthew
If, as many of us seem to experience, creativity and productivity increase exponentially as we approach a dealine, we need to agree that working without a near deadline is a waste of valuable time.
Rather than a flaw, I see the ability to (reliably) work under time pressure as a fantastic time saver. Why spend long hours on a task when you can make intelligent use of the time-compression machine?
@Julien, it feels like the consensus is that deadlines are a good thing. Perhaps they work because we need them. I can’t help wondering if we would be better off finding some other way to manage our time. It’s a bit like a project where every task is on the critical path otherwise; a recipe for stress and potential disaster.
Mmm, I find interesting the guilt thing. Not much I can add, but I believe that putting me in an indebted position with clients sometimes worked like a powerful call to action.
@Sebastian, Yes money is a powerful motivator. It is quite important to pay the mortgage every month!
I’ve always liked Douglas Adams’ quote: “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”
Personally I think deadlines greatly help in setting priorities – “no I can’t make lunch now / get another cup of tea / pay the bills, I have a deadline”.
Hi Andrew – nice to hear from you. That’s a great quote from Douglas Adams and good advice about setting deadlines. Another great Adams quote was his description of trying to get HHGTTG made into a film in Hollywood – “it’s like trying to cook a steak by having a hundred people come and breath on it.”
Matthew, your comment back to me (“Wouldn’t it be more efficient and productive to schedule work around some other criteria than a semi-arbitrary deadline. This is really the question.”) left me pondering for some time. If you ever come over to this neck of the woods, we’re going to have a loooong talk
You responded to Julien in a similar vein (“I can’t help wondering if we would be better off finding some other way to manage our time.”)
Have you O.D. on deadlines lately?
The thing is, we’re humans and we respond to the carrot and stick approach (reward/punishment, enticement/deterrence) or strive to fulfill our needs (Maslow et al.). On top of that, writers are creative types – project management or industrial techniques don’t spur my creativity. My time and creative juices *are* optimized when working to the beat of a (reasonable) deadline.
But that is not the case when facing a pile of ironing, or filing, or accounting. There, indeed, appropriate multitasking, say an hour a week, is more effective than waiting for a deadline (or disaster) to compel you to action (no more pressed clothes, a hysterical accountant on the line, the cat deciding to file that pile next to your desk for you).
Tasks v. creativity. Efficiency v. effectiveness. Maybe that’s the nugget?
Yes, my life has been dominated by deadlines recently but I’ve been involved in project management for decades. Before I became a writer, I ran a software company and we lived and died by Microsoft Project.
But I think you’re right. The mind is the great rationaliser of childish or basic emotions. They’re probably the things that help us get things done. And, as you say, a creative tension between freedom and commitment, creativity and efficiency is required.
But it’s surprising that something that dominates my life (and I guess others’) gets so little attention. Socrates would have a field day with deadlines if he was alive now. He’d probably enjoy blogging too. Or perhaps just trolling.