I’ve always loved challenges and I’ve always worked best under a deadline. In high school, I often waited to the last minute on big projects and still got an A. Makes me wonder what might have happened if I started earlier.
In my working career, I ended up in management twice because it was a challenge. I wasn’t a fan of it after I made it and ended up stepping down at the next job. I think being an introvert is part of that. While I can work well in a team and often enjoy leading the team, it is exhausting.
Deadlines have always driven me, at work and in my writing career. But in the last year I’ve found they don’t work as well. I have a hard time sticking to my deadlines and often move them out. This time last year, I had a deadline of May 31 to have two books ready for publication. They were short reads, one was written but not edited yet, the other was just started. Both should have been done a month earlier.
Why the change? I could just blame it on aging. Like it or not, my energy level is dropping every year. I could also blame it on distractions. Dogs in, dogs out – laundry – Facebook (oops) – etc. There are many things I could blame it on but I suspect my zest for creating stories is waning. And without the zest, there is no joy. Without the joy, even deadlines don’t work.
Do you work better with deadlines? Do you like to be challenged?
Till next time…
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they go by.” – Douglas Adams
I work best under pressure also.
{grin}