Why do deadlines improve performance? It makes no sense because deadlines create anxiety, which is the enemy of focus and productivity. For that, we need to understand Yerkes-Dodson law.
When we have a deadline, our brain releases an alerting chemical called norepinephrine, which activates or arouses our brain (so we can meet the challenge).
As our brain activation goes up, initially, productivity goes up until it hits a peak (see the graph below). This is the point where your goals stretch you, but are still achievable. This is also where you experience the flow state.
But as your deadlines keep getting increasingly aggressive, you start feeling anxious, and finally, you hit panic.
A high degree of anxiety shuts down your prefrontal cortex, making it impossible to get work done. That is why people with chronic or generalized anxiety find it so hard to be productive.
If your anxiety is very high, no productivity system in the world will help you.
That is also why deadlines are a good thing, but only up to a point – like everything else, here also, the dose makes the poison.
– Rajan