The Value of a Deadline

Well, I’m back from Utah and Boston, but I’m on my way to a library meeting in Bangor today. No rest for the wicked (though I plan on taking some days next week to catch my breath and get my bearings.)

Anyway. Not much time to write, but that made me think about how great deadlines can be. I’m a tinkerer. I like to dabble in this and that, and I can easily get distracted by everything from the news to books to Wikipedia articles. Yesterday at the airport in Boston, I had about an hour and a half. I checked my work email and decided that I’d see how much work I could crank out in that 90 minutes.

The answer? Quite a bit.

Deadlines help me get things done. Not just big deadlines, but little ones too. When I know I have a half hour to do my writing in a day (no more, no less), I’m usually able to get my fingers flying and meet my 1,000 word goal within that time period. When I know I have no real limit? It can take three times as long to get it done.

Just like this blog post. Not a lot of time to write, but if I give myself a set limit to get it done, it’s much likelier that it gets finished. (Even if my brain is mush when I’m typing it.)

Anyway. That’s all I’ve got for you today. Not up to too much abstract thought. Glad to be home and only dealing with driving, not flying today. Thanks for all of your kind words of support, and I’ll catch you next week!

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