E7 - You Do Your Best Work Under Pressure? You’re a Tight Deadline Junkie

Do you leave everything to the last minute? Do you find yourself burning the midnight oil time after and time to meet deadlines? Yet, somehow, every time you pull of a masterstroke of genius and deliver. You deliver, not just on time, but you deliver your best work. You might just be one of the many tight deadline junkies. Listen to this podcast to learn more.

Read the Tight Deadline Podcast Transcript:

"Deadlines are a fundamental part of working in business. Are you one of those people like a baseball player? Running for the home run, and you slide in on the last base just as the umpire says, "Yep, you're home"? My name is Darren and you're at the home of Sticky Learning MBM, trainers to the UK grocery industry, and experts in making learning stick."

"Today I'd like to talk to you about tight deadlines. A lot of people are one of those baseball players that just slide in and get the home run, and you might say, "What's wrong with that?" I'd say nothing, except the stress that it causes. Then people will say to me, "Ah, but I do my best work under pressure". I'd say to them, "Research disagrees". In fact, when we're stressed scientists have proved that our IQ drops to that of a teenager. So when the adrenaline is running, when the cortisol is going around our body, what's happening is we're getting ready for fight or flight for the sabre-toothed tiger, but of course, they don't exist anymore."

Leaving Things to the Last Minute

What happens at work is when we really need to be our best, make our best decisions, what's happening in our IQ has dropped. So, you think that you do your best work under pressure, it's not true. What happens is you get very stressed under pressure and you seem to get a lot done, but let's look at that a whole different way. A lot of people slide in, getting their deadlines done just on time. A bit like when they go for a train and they're almost proud to jump on the train having run across the platform as the doors are bleeping. "I made it," and yes you did, but let's look at the stress that that caused, and was it really worth it?

"There is an alternative, and it's not going to be an alternative that you'll want to embrace, because part of you really likes to the rollercoaster ride of that adrenaline rush. Here's my challenge. You've got a manager who is erratic, disorganized. Often sliding in at last base just to get the deadlines done. Whilst that's quite exciting, is that really the person that you would want to work for? Would you prefer someone that's more measured? That knows what they're trying to achieve? Let's call it strategic thinking, and has a really good understanding of what the plan looks like for the next 12 months or the next few days, but isn't trying to hit deadlines just as they happen or passed."

Tight deadlines: Egg timer running out

 

The Last-Minute Multiply Effect

"That's exciting, but the stress is huge, and multiply that as a cascade from top to bottom in a company. The guy at the top is working on a last-minute tight deadline. Because he couldn't think further ahead than a few weeks. That cascades to the next level down. The next level down. And by the time it gets to middle management or below they're running around like headless chickens. Stressed, making decisions at last minute on something that's probably pretty important for that company. This would not be the image I suggest you want to portray."

Why Do People Just Hit or Just Miss Their Deadlines?

"So, let's look at why. Why do people just hit or just miss their deadlines? Why not turn in a report a few days before? Well, the reason is they don't trust themselves. Let me say that again. The reason is, they don't trust themselves because let's imagine a scenario. You've got to write a presentation for a customer in two weeks time, Thursday by 5:00. The meeting happens on Friday at 9:00 AM. Now,