Deadlines give managers and leaders a sense of security. They give me nothing but anxiety.

The one that gives me security is the knowledge that change will disrupt my best laid plans.

Instead of a hard deadline, I opt for a “real deadline.”

The real deadline is a date that gives an high level idea of how long the project might last. It’s usually 1.5 times my original estimate of a project’s length.

Be careful. The extra time is not license to be lazy. If I take even the slightest bit of time to be lazy, I find that I’ve already put myself behind the proverbial “eight ball.”