Duke Ellington famously said, “I don’t need time. What I need is a deadline.”

This holds true for many of us. We all think we have plenty of time to tackle our dreams or put our aspirations into the “one-day” category. We plan and strategise but fail to take action.

Here, I share why deadlines are powerful and are key to transforming your career and life.

Deadlines promote action

Deadlines provide an impetus to take action. So many of us have dreams or activities that we think we will do one day. Maybe they are items we have added to a bucket list or a “this would be nice to do one-time” list. For some clients, items on these lists include learning to meditate, finally taking that solo retreat, starting a business, or leaving a job they despise. For others, it includes getting to know their strengths, which they think might be fun one day, but it doesn’t feel like a burning platform.

Without deadlines, there is no burning platform.

There is no impetus to act. There is nothing that says do this now.

This is where deadlines become very useful.

The power and transformative benefits of deadlines in my life 

I have set my life up with many challenges. One of my friends noted that I seemed to enjoy setting myself ridiculous challenges to fill my days with busy work. 😂

That’s not strictly true, but there is an element of truth. I love a challenge and relish the opportunity to test myself and push what I believe I can achieve in a specific time! 

For example, I love reading challenges. I am doing two of them this year and have done them for the last couple of years. At a minimum, I need to read fifty-two books this year for one challenge and twenty-four for the other. This amount of reading might appear extreme or even excessive to some, but it feels like an appropriate challenge for me.

And the best bit? The deadline is built-in — I must complete the reading within the calendar year.

Other examples of deadlines that prompt action include borrowing a library book. I need to read the book before it’s due back. Library books have natural, inbuilt deadlines in the form of due dates, or I risk incurring a fine. Or, when it’s a book I’ve been waiting for and especially reserved if I don’t read it within the required time, I will have to wait months before the opportunity presents itself again.

You may not think of best before or use by dates on your food as deadlines, but they do help decide what to cook for dinner. When the food needs to be eaten, that clarifies your thinking and provides focus. It’s a simple example, but you can see the merits of embracing deadlines and utilising them to provide greater clarity in your life and decision-making. 

The impact and importance of deadlines in your career

Some careers have been built on deadlines. For example, contract work or projects have an inbuilt end date. These can be both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because if you’re not enjoying the job or have learnt everything you need to do, the deadline can provide an excellent reason to move on. However, there is a double edge to this. Working on a contract is often highly stressful; it can feel unnecessarily demanding or challenging if you or the team falls behind. 

Deadlines in a workplace can feel stressful, but deadlines that we choose for ourselves can provide structure and routine and can clarify our decision-making. Decision overload is a genuine challenge for many of us; deadlines can assist with this, giving relief and reassurance.

Sometimes, the deadline is not apparent to us, but we have a sense that we are approaching our end time within a specific role, industry or job type. One of my clients had spent many years working in a particular sector, including thousands of dollars ensuring her training was world-class. She had invested a decade or more in education and experience in this field. And she felt her time was coming to an end in that industry. Not because she was ageing out or lost interest, but because something in her inner wisdom suggested another purpose for her. This sounds very woo, but this intuition and inner knowledge were powerful. So powerful that it kept distracting her and keeping her awake at night. There was a discomfort. She showed classic signs of needing to change her life.

This deadline was not visible to others or overt. It was just a sense inside her that her time in this particular career was coming to a natural conclusion.

Something new was calling her.

Self-imposed deadlines

What about the deadlines that are not articulated but are still present every day?

The deadline that says in your mind, “I need to achieve XYZ by the time I’m a certain age”.

These are the self-imposed deadlines that can create unnecessary angst. On the other hand, they can provide us with the motivation and momentum to take action.

A personal example is when I was in my 20s and working a stressful corporate career; I gave myself the deadline of wanting to earn a certain income by the time I was 30. That deadline or goal focused my attention and kept me moving towards what I had deemed “success”. With the wisdom of a few decades, I can see that it was a narrow definition of success and didn’t align with my values. But I don’t regret having had that self-imposed deadline to provide focus and movement towards my desired goal.

Deadlines need not be bad; they can be very positive when used to create movement and bring about positive change for yourself or others.

Here is a further example of how deadlines can support us in taking action, this time from running my coaching business. I have a deadline to create a blog post each month. Yes, I’m my own boss, but the (self-imposed) deadline ensures I take action and actually write the article. 

Similarly, my podcast cohost, Shelley Tonkin Smith, and I have set deadlines for recording the Two Booked Up podcast to ensure we have read the book and recorded the episode early enough to allow adequate editing and publication time. 

Coaching has built-in deadlines

In the context of this discussion, a coach (that’s me!) is a professional who guides and supports individuals in achieving their goals. Through the nature of coaching, you have accountability. And accountability can operate as a deadline. For instance, I meet with my one-on-one coaching clients every two to three weeks; that way, we build deadlines for actions to be completed. This regular interaction and the expectation of progress create a sense of urgency and help my clients stay on track.

This approach also means my clients take action and achieve their desired transformation. The built-in deadline of regular coaching sessions and the container of coaching support provide the necessary impetus to get things done, to take that long-forgotten dream and make it a reality. As a result, they feel confident, accomplished, and purposeful, experiencing a sense of empowerment and motivation. 

Feeling confident and purposeful, as well as achieving your goals, is the recipe for contentment. 

Deadlines provide a catalyst for action

The key message here is that deadlines provide a catalyst or an impetus to action. Without them, we think life would be easier. But it also might mean we drift from one thing to another without focusing on what we genuinely want. If there is no pressure, it sounds like an ideal world; however, as humans, we thrive in environments where we are encouraged to learn and grow.

Deadlines do this.

Whether they are self-imposed, external, or internal, a timeframe to complete a task, activity, or goal ensures we do it, providing a sense of direction and focus.

In summary;

• Deadlines provide a clarifying framework for decisions.

• They give us the nudge required to take the actions we need to take.

• They are sometimes good.

• They can be a powerful force for transformation when used judiciously or embraced intentionally.

Life is full of deadlines. It is just how we choose to look at them. Consider reframing deadlines as motivating instead of stressful.

More Support

As a certified career and life confidence coach, I work with people who want to make changes in their lives and know the accountability and confidence they gain from working with me will help them move into and stay in action.

Together, we can identify and embrace your strengths and develop strategies to leverage them in your professional journey. Don't let deadlines (real or imagined) hold you back—let's work together to achieve your career and life goals.