In order to plan a project well, you need a deadline. Even small tasks—meetings, emails, and occasions—all come with deadlines.

Inspiration comes with a subtle version of a deadline: an expiry date. If you don’t bring the idea to life in a given time—its own deadline—the idea will look for someone else. The idea needs to survive.

All deadlines come with time pressure. This time pressure energizes some people and drains others. Because a person or group of people can only do so much, it has to prioritize the important deadlines and either delay or drop the others.