A Simple But Effective Productivity Hack: the Deadline-Sprint
I always thought there are two types of people: those who finish their work way before a deadline and those who finish just in time.
What’s true for both groups: there is something truly motivating behind a deadline: it removes our stasis and helps us to (i) start and (ii) get things done pragmatically.
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| Photo by Clique Images on Unsplash |
And what if I told you that you can benefit from deadlines even without a “real” deadline?
Prerequisite: agents
If you’ve read Thinking, Fast and Slow you might be familiar with the concept that you consist of two “me”:
- rational, correct (slow) thinking
- heuristic, approximate (fast) thinking
In agent theory, there exists a similar concept:
- There is the “big me” (the director) who makes long-term plans and sets goals. This is the “me” we want to identify with.
- And there is the “little me” (the agents). These agents “live” only for a short amount of time (1 hour) and are responsible for the pleasure and the now: e.g. chocolate vs. sports session.
And the thing is: you can’t be rational with these agents.
So you need to trick them.
One trick is the Deadline-Sprint.
The Deadline-Sprint
Agents only do work when there is some degree of urgency.
When agents are short on time, they understand that they must act quickly (to achieve something in their short lives).
They need time pressure.
How do you artificially create time pressure?
You can start unpopular tasks just before a fixed deadline (before a meeting, before the train leaves, …) - preferably 30 minutes. Your agents don’t realize the deadline isn’t tied to the task, yet it still makes them feel urgent.
If there is no natural deadline, you can create an artificial one. You set yourself a timer (25-30 minutes) and start. However, you have to stop after the timer has expired (otherwise the agents will learn that the scheme cannot be trusted).
Thank you for reading! I picked up this method in the book Anleitung zur Selbstüberlistung – a German book on how to overcome your inner barriers by influencing the agents who are responsible for controlling you at a particular moment.