Deadlines
“We are all capable of so much more than we allow ourselves to be”~Rich RollUrgency Unlocks Potential
We are capable of far more than we think.
The single greatest productivity hack I’ve ever encountered is also the simplest: deadlines.
Before you roll your eyes and scroll past, hear me out. I know it sounds cliché, even obvious. But sometimes the most powerful tools are the ones we overlook because they seem too simple to work.
Let me share a little backstory.
If you were anything like me growing up, deadlines were both a lifesaver and a source of stress. I was the kid who waited until 9 PM the night before a school project was due to start cutting, pasting, and crafting a masterpiece with glue and scissors. Shout out to my mom for putting up with it!
To an outsider, this might look like pure procrastination, but I’ve come to see it differently. For me, it wasn’t about laziness; it was an ordering of priorities. Deadlines created urgency, and urgency forced action. Without them, everything else seemed more important.
The funny thing is, even with all my last-minute scrambling, I never missed a deadline. Not once. Not in school, not in work, not in life. I was always on time, even if it meant sacrificing sleep or sanity to get there.
Deadlines Create Urgency, and Urgency Creates Action
There’s a reason marketers love deadlines. You’ve seen the ads: “Only 3 spots left!” or “Offer ends tonight at midnight!” These are artificial deadlines designed to push us out of complacency and into action. And they work.
The same principle applies to our creative lives. Think about the last time you worked on a personal project. How long did it take? Weeks? Months? Years? Compare that to how quickly you turn around client projects. The difference isn’t skill or passion—it’s urgency.
Without a deadline, personal projects often become “someday” projects. And “someday” is where dreams go to die.
Up until September of this year, I hated social media. I saw it as a black hole of attention spans and brain-rot. I told myself I was above it, that real artists worked in silence and let their work speak for itself.
But deep down, I knew that wasn’t true. Social media isn’t the enemy—it’s a tool. And like any tool, it’s only as good as the person using it.
So, I set a challenge for myself: post three times a week for a month. That’s it. No grand strategy, no overthinking. Just show up.
And I did. To my surprise, it didn’t take much time out of my day. Even better, it worked. Within weeks, I landed a few projects from people who stumbled across my posts.
That small win gave me the confidence to up the ante. I committed to posting five times a week—Monday through Friday—for the next two months. The result? Forty-three posts in sixty days.
That’s more work than I’d shared in the entire previous year.
The Ripple Effect
Here’s the part that surprised me: the quality of my work didn’t suffer. If anything, it improved. The more I posted, the more I learned about what resonated with my audience. I stopped worrying about what I thought people wanted and started experimenting with what I liked. Some posts flopped, sure. But that didn’t matter because I’d have another one tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.
Deadlines gave me permission to fail. And in failing, I learned. I grew. I created work I’m genuinely proud of—work I might never have finished without the pressure of a ticking clock.
Something else started to happen. People noticed. I began getting DMs from prospective clients, texts from friends who loved what I was doing, and collaboration requests from other artists. My consistency positioned me as an expert in my field, even though nothing external had changed.
The transformation was internal. The deadlines forced me to stop playing small. To stop hiding. To share my work, flaws and all.
And the world responded.
Why Deadlines Work
Deadlines tap into something primal. When time is running out, our brains shift into survival mode. We focus. We prioritize. We stop making excuses and start making progress.
This isn’t just anecdotal. Studies show that constraints—like deadlines—actually boost creativity. When you have less time to overthink, you’re forced to trust your instincts. You get out of your own way.
Here’s the key: deadlines only work if you take them seriously. A self-imposed deadline is still a deadline if you honor it.
Start small. Pick one project and set a deadline for the next step—not the whole thing, just the next step. Maybe it’s writing the first 500 words of your novel by Friday. Or designing the first draft of your logo by the end of the day.
Make the deadline realistic but non-negotiable. And when you hit it, celebrate. Momentum is your friend.
Once you’ve built that habit, up the stakes. Set bigger goals with shorter timelines. Challenge yourself to create under pressure. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.
Deadlines aren’t just about productivity—they’re about identity. Every time you meet a deadline, you’re proving to yourself that you can be consistent, reliable, and disciplined. You’re building trust with yourself. And that trust is the foundation of everything.
When I committed to posting on social media, it wasn’t just about the posts. It was about becoming the kind of person who shows up. The kind of person who delivers. The kind of person who gets shit done.
And that’s what deadlines do. They don’t just help you finish projects—they help you become the person you need to be to achieve your goals.
Final Thoughts
If you’re reading this, I want you to try something. Pick one project—something you’ve been putting off—and set a deadline. Not a vague “someday” goal. A real, concrete deadline. Write it down. Tell someone about it. Make it real.
Then, get to work. Show up every day. Trust the process. And when that deadline comes, deliver.
You are capable of so much more than you think. But you’ll never know what you’re capable of until you push yourself. Deadlines are the push you’ve been waiting for.
The world rewards effort. And consistency is repeated effort.
Deadlines are your ticket to consistency—and consistency is your ticket to the life you’ve always wanted.
-P