Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 August 2021

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Everyone has experienced the way deadlines can act as a double-edged sword: on the one hand, they force us to get stuff done; but on the other, they often push us to wait until the last minute to get to work, so that we do that work in a poorly executed, slapdash rush. Scientists call that latter dynamic "the deadline effect," and my guest today has taken a field-tested dive into how to manage it, so that you can get the advantages of deadlines, without suffering from their downsides. His name is Chrisopther Cox, and he's the author of The Deadline Effect: How to Work Like It's the Last Minute—Before the Last Minute. We begin our conversation with how Chris's experience as a magazine editor got him interested in deadlines and what studies have shown as to both their benefits and their pitfalls. Chris then unpacks ways to harness the former towards greater productivity in both your personal and professional life, including creating interim checkpoints, knowing how to set reasonable due dates, planning left to right rather than right to left, and using what he calls "soft opens with teeth." Along the way, Chris explains these principles using a bunch of real world case studies, from the system a chef uses to open multiple Michelin 3-star restaurants to how the Telluride ski resort gets ready to open for the season. We end our conversation with what you can start doing today to take advantage of the power of deadlines in your own life. After the show is over, check out the show notes at aom.is/deadline

Transcript

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0:00.0	Brat McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:10.6	Now, everyone has experienced the way deadlines can act as a double-edged sword.
0:14.0	On the one hand, they force it to get stuff done.
0:16.0	But on the other, they often push us to wait until last minute to get to work, so we do
0:19.5	that work in a poorly executed slap-dash rush.
0:22.6	Scientists call that ladder dynamic the deadline effect, and my guest today has taken a field
0:26.1	test to dive in how to manage it so that you get the advantages of deadlines without
0:29.6	suffering from their downsides.
0:31.0	His name is Christopher Cox and he's the author of the deadline effect, how to work
0:34.1	like it's the last minute before the last minute.
0:36.2	We begin our conversation with how Chris' experience as a magazine editor got him interested
0:40.0	in deadlines and what studies have shown as to both their benefits and their pitfalls.
0:43.6	Chris then impacts ways to harness the former towards greater productivity in both your
0:46.4	personal and professional life, including creating interim checkpoints, knowing how to
0:49.7	set reasonable due dates, planning right to left rather than left to right, and using what
0:53.6	he calls soft opens with teeth.
0:55.6	Along the way, Chris explains these principles using a bunch of real world case studies from
0:59.4	the system of chef uses to open multiple Michelin 3 star restaurants to how the tell-your-right
1:03.2	ski resort gets ready to open for the season.
1:05.2	And we enter conversation with what you can start doing today to take advantage of the
1:08.0	power of deadlines in your own life.
1:09.7	After the show is over, check out our show notes at a-wim.is-deadline.
	...

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