Ask Christa! Why do I hate deadlines so much? (S4E39)

Introduction and Listener Question

Hi everyone and welcome to Ask Christa! the place where you can ask questions about how to work through business challenges and workplace issues. I'm Christa Dhimo and today’s listener question is really short and one I think we have all related to from time to time: “Why do I hate deadlines so much?”

My short answer is: I don’t know why YOU hate deadlines so much, but I have worked with a lot of people who have a deep aversion to deadlines, and others who seem to get super energized at the very thought of a deadline. 

Common Reasons for Aversion to Deadlines

I’ve also observed two big aspects of deadlines: one is related to how people individually think about time, and the other is related to whether a work environment provides ample resources and timelines to actually get adequate work done.

I suppose a third aspect is a bit of both scenarios combined.

There is science about why some people thrive when it comes to deadlines, particularly when they feel urgency, and why others pucker up and want to crawl under a rock. There are also various organizational behavior studies that examine the links between deadline structures and organizational performance. I’ll include one that I think is particularly useful in the show notes.

And worth noting: at least half of my career has been in clutch-player roles, where I led really BIG initiatives in an extraordinarily short timeline, and I can say this: managing to a deadline can be really really stressful, even though it’s most times also really really necessary if you’re working a clutch play, but even in that situation, managing to deadlines only works IF you are focused on the right deadlines AND you have a healthy culture when it comes to what a deadline means.

Overall, though, people are widely variable, and… there’s no ONE TYPE of person who feels one way or another when it comes to deadlines. It often has a lot to do with your work environment rather than a personal preference. 

For example, not enough resources—and I mean legit not enough, not the perception of not having enough. When you do the math, you do not have enough resources. I’ve seen businesses run into the ground with quality issues abounding because there really AREN’T enough resources to get good work done and meet even the most basic of service levels or production and compliance requirements… at least to the level of quality expected. In those environments, a deadline will never feel good, and I’ve never heard anyone say, “I LOVE the deadlines that create a frantic chaotic environment as we hurry up to meet low quality standards for our customers.” 

But I’ve also seen businesses struggle to get work done on time because, in spite of having a right-size of appropriate resources to GET good work done, the deadlines and scope were stated and agreed-to by those who didn’t know what’s involved in GETTING the work done. 

In both of those common workplace issues (lack of adequate resources and/or irresponsibly agreed-to deadlines), those doing the work will very likely develop an aversion to deadlines. The deadlines become the reason why employees feel setup for failure—that success is always one deadline away. And again, these are two of many reasons why I see companies get into trouble.

But Sometimes It’s How We’re Built

Remember as I said before, people are widely variable. There are some people built with such a strong sense of urgency that everything has to happen right now, as though life is nothing BUT a bunch of deadlines—and while having urgency in some cases is appropriate, it can’t be a way of life. If everything is urgent, then what do you call it when something is actually… urgent? An emergency? Why would you ever want work to become an emergency?

And we’ve all seen leaders who are promoted perhaps BECAUSE of their sense of urgency, but if left unchecked, and if that level of urgency is way of COPING with stress and deadlines instead of determining the PRIORITY for deadlines, those Urgency-Emergency leaders massively disrupt workflow, the cadence of efficiency, and… employee motivation. Some refer to it as the Tyranny of the Urgent. That’s not a place where anyone can thrive; it’s simply about survival, and here is where I’ve seen a lot of quality and service level issues abound, which makes for unhappy clients, and if you have employees who care about your clients, it makes for unhappy employees, too.

Then there are people who are the exact opposite: they become stressed out THE MOMENT they or anybody around them feels a sense of urgency. They feel pushed and unnecessarily stretched… panicked… and very, very uncomfortable. Their minds may go blank. They may even appear to shut down. 

 It’s not because they have NO sense of urgency, but because the very thought of being rushed or being around others who DO have urgency puts THEM in a state of emergency, which results in… freezing. You won’t find these folks on a game show with buzzers. But that doesn’t mean they don’t like deadlines or aren’t good at meeting them. It just means they aren’t going to perform their best, and you probably won’t get the best from them, if everything is urgent all the time. 

Of course, if there’s a chronic procrastination issue, then that becomes a management issue, and should be managed appropriately for the sake of the employee’s success, the team success, and the organization’s success.

Then there’s everyone in between who can usually manage well enough to get a lot of different things done. 

But Deadlines Are Everywhere and Help Us Get Work Done… Sometimes…

Here's what I know: everybody has deadlines, and in life you will always have deadlines. The best way to manage hating deadlines is to make peace with the simple fact that they aren’t going anywhere and you will always have them.

And I will say this: most deadlines shift and move and change. I think the greatest benefit of deadlines is having a centerpiece for discussing what needs to be done, when, to what level of quality, and how. Yes, there are times when a deadline is not moveable or negotiable. I was on a clutch team during Y2K, or all that work so many people did to make sure computers could handle the flip from the 20th century to the 21st century. The year 2000 was coming, and we could not move that deadline.

There are also times when your clients have deadlines that you must abide by: various ceremonies either on specific calendar days or because of personal days like weddings. Those cannot be moved unless your clients decide to move their celebrations. 

Bottom line is, deadlines have purpose, and I want you to use them for your wins and to your advantage. So reframe how you think about deadlines, because the reality is most of the time, even if you’re a self-directed solopreneur, many deadlines are given to us as a starting point: the client says when something has to be done, your accountant tells you to close the books so they can work on your taxes, your manager tells you when your portion of your performance review needs to be complete. But also as is most of the time, deadlines can be responsibly renegotiated after you learn more about expectations, or what the actual problem is, or what some of the constraints are when it comes to HOW you’ll solve that problem. 

That’s not to suggest that you shouldn’t respect or honor deadlines, only to put them in perspective for how critical they are and can be, especially in a business environment and workplace setting.

And, by the way, WE usually COUNTER with deadlines and give them to others, too—they don’t just happen to us: for example, you tell your client when you need the final contract or their final requirements SO THAT you can meet THEIR deadlines.

Reframing Your Relationship with Deadlines…

Here are some tips to manage how you feel about deadlines:

Reframe deadlines as having purpose, as a necessary part of getting the right work done in the right time in the right way with the right people. And don’t, “yeah whatever, Christa,” me. More organizations get this right than not, otherwise no one would ever get anything done as expected. Be friendlier about deadlines. Honor and appreciate what they’re used for and why they are useful in a functioning workplace.

Next, consider how you manage stress when it comes to time. Some never feel like they have enough time. Others feel like they have all the time in the world. HOW people perceive a deadline has a lot to do with HOW people perceive time. If you’re the type who hates deadlines as our listener says, there’s likely a lot of stress around a deadline and that has less to do with the actual deadline, and more to do with time.

And, specific to the workplace, know how you manage stress when it comes to workload. This tends to be the other reason people hate deadlines—it’s not just time, but also many employees perceive that they have too much work to do and every. single. deadline. feels. daunting. Talk about this with those on your team, peers, your manager if you feel you can. If you see others fitting all the work in, learn from them. What are they doing that’s different from you? What different way of working might work better for you?

I remember being in a role 20 years ago where I felt like I was under water all the time. I learned from others that they skimped on the quality of their work for the customer, and while I’m not a perfectionist by any stretch (clutch players are good-enough to get it done types), I realized that I just couldn’t skimp on quality the way my peers did. And that was good to know. I changed companies within a few months.

Which brings me to the last point: look at the work you do and make some changes if you hate deadlines and you work in the land of deadlines. There are a lot of service-related roles, STEM-related roles, process-related roles that have far fewer deadlines baked into the work than perhaps the work you are doing. Deadline-driven roles are typically project management, product development team, or anyone who delivers work to clients. If you hate deadlines as our listener does, then take a step back and evaluate the work you are doing. If it feels like your ENTIRE job is about managing deadlines, then… maybe it’s time to change jobs. Not every job manages to deadlines. 

Additional Resources

For your resources, I’ve offered in the show notes a fascinating and well written article called “How misperceptions of deadlines, urgency influence time management and performance.” It’s from Johns Hopkins University’s The Hub, written by Patrick Ercolano from May 2018. In it, the writer reflects on two papers by a JHU researcher that examines the “mere urgency effect” and the “mere deadline effect.” I LOVED this article, and I think you will, too.

I also included in the show notes an insightful, reflective article about how Meet Edgar, a social media management tool, decided to drop the need for deadlines. It was written by Laura Roeder, founder of MeetEdgar, in July 2015 and updated in July 2024. She offers some interesting and important perspective on deadlines. I think a lot of it will resonate with our listener hating deadlines, but it’s a great and bold take on what I think a lot of organizations should do to protect itself from the tyranny of the urgent AND the daunting feelings of procrastination. The idea is: get good work done when it needs to get done, and forget about the deadlines.

For the more research-minded, data- and evidence-driven listener, I’ve also included the Fang and Maglio 2024 paper published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. It’s called, “On time or on thin ice: How deadline violations negatively affect perceived work quality and worker evaluations.” I recommend reading the abstract, the Introduction, General Discussion, and Conclusion. The Introduction offers a literature review also, so you can look up additional resources from this paper as you wish. 

Wrap Up & Submitting Your Questions

And that’s a WRAP for Episode 39 in Season 4, where I’m answering questions about Doing the Work, and FOR SURE, meeting deadlines is part of that category. 

You can submit your question directly on my show’s site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H, where you can also browse through various episodes based on category. While your there—sign up for my More Answers… newsletter, where you will receive additional content on Sunday nights to set you up for the work week.

As always—thank you for your support. And remember, if you have a business challenge or a workplace issue—Ask Christa!