

Deadlines Forces Creativity - lionhearted
http://www.ajkesslerblog.com/deadlines-force-creativity/

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aterimperator
This is also mentioned in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (which I
haven't read in a while, so bear with me). When one of his English students
complains she's stuck and can't figure out where to start her essay, he tells
her to pick a single city to write about. When she returns later with the same
problem, he tells her to pick a single building in that city to write about.
When she again returns later, he tells her to pick a single brick in that
building to write about. When she again returns later, she comes back with
dozens of pages.

I recall there being some comments about how she had to narrow her focus,
because when you think of a city you can only think of all the things you've
ever been told about that city, or ever heard about that city. Even when you
think of a building you can only think of what other people have said about
that building. When you focus on a single brick, it becomes clear that no one
has ever said anything about it; so you clear your mind and think and write
your own thoughts...

Point being, limiting yourself can get rid of certain distractions and make it
clearer what your task actually is.

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squeed
This was also commented on in the Tao of Programming:

A manager asked a programmer how long it would take him to finish the program
on which he was working. "It will be finished tomorrow," the programmer
promptly replied.

"I think you are being unrealistic," said the manager, "Truthfully, how long
will it take?"

The programmer thought for a moment. "I have some features that I wish to add.
This will take at least two weeks," he finally said.

"Even that is too much to expect," insisted the manager, "I will be satisfied
if you simply tell me when the program is complete."

The programmer agreed to this.

Several years later, the manager retired. On the way to his retirement
luncheon, he discovered the programmer asleep at his terminal. He had been
programming all night.

\-- "The Tao of Programming", section 5.3

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jberryman
This was inspiring. As others have stated, this isn't about deadlines per se,
but _limitations_.

This is such a common theme among artists, here's Stravinsky rifting on the
same:

[http://jorielle-music.blogspot.com/2005/06/stravinsky-on-
acc...](http://jorielle-music.blogspot.com/2005/06/stravinsky-on-acceptance-
of-limits-as.html)

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ajkessler
@jberryman

You're certainly right, Jack is talking about limitations, and a bit about
deadlines. The reason I used "deadlines" rather than "limitations" in the
title was deliberate though. I think for many creative types, having a firm
deadline is one of the best, and sometimes only, ways to get something
shipped. It's hard to produce art. There's a lot of ego involved. It's real
easy to keep polishing, trying to get it just the nth degree more perfect.
Deadlines eliminate this.

This applies elsewhere too: in most mediations and negotiations we set a hard
deadline. The deal is inevitably made minutes before the deadline. It doesn't
really matter how much time is allotted: whether you have 40 hours or 4 hours,
almost all of the time will be chewed up by bickering and arguing over
positions. The deal is almost always made in the last 30 minutes or less.

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zaidf
Not just deadline, other kinds of constraints do that too. When you're given a
paper and asked to draw your mod creative piece, you can sit there for hours
debating where to start. Now if you are asked to draw the your most creative
flower with four petals, you can channel your creativity to very specific
areas.

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smackay
It is not just deadlines, I find that any social situation where people are
dependent on what I produce to be an extremely strong motivator - moreso than
any well organized task list or plan -

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Swizec
This is something I've often observed. Something about a looming deadline
really focuses my mind and lets me churn out amazing work in surprisingly
little time.

Most recently I noticed this when writing an article for a magazine. Weeks
went by and I didn't write a thing. Then days went by and I churned out
perhaps 100 words.

Then the deadline was in a few hours and I churned out a 3000 word article
over two cups of tea in a single sitting. Didn't even take my eyes off
whatever text editor I was using. The flow was just there.

So yes, from my observations, if you want to get in the flow - just have a
looming deadline.

