I’m not the biggest fan of deadlines.
I do use them sometimes for various reasons, but one good reason to use them is to combat perfectionism.
When my perfectionism ramps ups, I can start to procrastinate. Because, of course, this has to be perfect before I can consider it done. Before I know it, the task/project I’ve laid in front of me is stretching out with no end in sight.
Using a deadline in this instance gets me moving and makes me work toward “good enough,” so that I can finish what I’m working on.
For instance, I’m publishing a new book soon called Productivity for INFPs. I got started on this back in November and truthfully, it could have been published by now, but, you know, I started to tinker here and tinker there and then I just wasn’t feeling it for a while and…
You probably can guess how this ends. It stretches out way longer than it has to and I miss getting my creation out into the world in a decent amount of time.
So I set a deadline. January 31.
There’s no reason it can’t get done by January 31, so get moving, Amanda. And it’s helped. Because once a piece of it reaches “good enough” I move on to the next thing, so that I can meet my deadline.
And on January 31 I will have a published ebook. (I would love to have a paperback done by that date too, but it may be a few days later.)
I don’t always enjoy working to deadlines because they can make a project feel forced–like I can’t follow my own natural rhythms. But sometimes a deadline can enhance my natural rhythms by giving me a container in which to set them free.
Amanda Linehan is the author of North, about a young woman on the run from her past, the law and an old adversary out to get her. Her newest release is Bored To Death: A Vampire Thriller, about a 300-year-old vampire trying to restore the balance between life and death. She has published five novels. Get a free short story every month when you sign up for her newsletter.
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