Instead of counting down with a timer, try counting up with a stop watch. This is a lesson I learned from a personal trainer, who was timing me as I rested between sets.

In addition to tracking what’s left to do, proactively track what you did. This is the iDoneThis philosophy. Right now, I cross items off a to-do list on an index card, then I rip up the card when I am done. I don’t track them after the day—so, perhaps, there is a deeper way to apply this into my life.

Keep a wide open schedule, as much as commitments allow. Anything more than a one-hour block of uninterrupted time is worth protecting.

By extension, group meetings together. Keep 15 minute buffers in between and protect them. Every meeting is a deadline.

Get used to putting tasks and projects down. Let’s say you have five minutes left before a meeting, and you are knee deep into a task. If you’re like me, you might feel an inclination to rush to finish the task and get it done, because, “It’ll feel great.” It feels generally bad, because the task isn’t fully done, and now you’re late for the meeting. Let go of the inclination and the task. It can wait. Avoid giving yourself unnecessary deadline pressure.

Another way of saying the above: stop expecting yourself to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

Deadlines are useful for getting things done. No deadline means risking nothing getting done. Perhaps the best alternative is a long, loose, deadline. So far ahead that you forget it’s even there, while knowing it exists encourages you to take action. (Maybe!)