You Don’t Need More Time — You Need a Deadline

Imagine two runners.

One says they’d like to run a marathon… someday.

The other just signed up for one happening in 12 weeks.

Now imagine how differently their next few weeks look.

Who’s waking up earlier?
Who’s adjusting their diet, tracking their kilometres, saying no to late nights?
Who’s making progress?

The difference isn’t motivation. It’s a deadline.

Why deadlines work (and why you probably need one)

When there’s a real date on the calendar, things change.
Not because time magically appears, but because priorities do.

This became crystal clear to me during my MBA. I was already parenting and running a business — my plate was full. But somehow, I met every assignment deadline, delivered every group project, sat every exam on time.
Because I had to.
There was no option to delay.

But outside of that system — with projects of my own — things slipped. Personal writing stayed “in progress.” Ideas got caught in the loop of perfection. If I hadn’t started publishing publicly, I’d still be tinkering with drafts no one ever sees.

Deadlines weren’t just helpful.
They were the difference between motion and inertia.

The psychology behind deadlines

What you’re experiencing isn’t laziness — it’s human psychology.

Parkinson’s Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
Give something a fuzzy "someday" deadline, and it drags.
Put a date on it? You cut through the noise. You move.

Deadlines force focus. They create urgency. And they generate a kind of creative tension — a term researchers use to describe the healthy discomfort that pulls us forward when we commit to something publicly or concretely.

James Clear put it best:

“If you commit to nothing, you’ll be distracted by everything.”

Make your dreams less optional

If there’s something important you want to start — writing a book, launching a project, pivoting your career — set a deadline. And don’t keep it to yourself.

Make it external.

• Register for the thing (a course, event, submission, or challenge)

• Announce your timeline publicly

• Create a consequence or accountability check-in

• Put a date on the wall where you can see it

A goal without a strategy is just a dream - because without deadlines, even the best ideas stall.

Progress doesn’t come from more time.

It comes from structure.
And it starts the moment your idea becomes real enough to schedule.