Just Keep Swimming

You know what's awesome and awful at the same time?

A deadline.

deadline: a line or limit that must not be passed, or - ironically enough - a boundary in prison that prisoners can cross only at the risk of being shot.

Deadlines are fascinating creatures. They're difficult to work with most of the time and they make you do the impossible: put your muse in a cage and make her dance on command. Have you ever tried doing that? It's not a very productive or pleasant process and it usually just makes you frustrated. But deadlines also give you structure, a goal. "You must complete something by this date." Even if what you produce is absolute shit it's something. At the very least, a stepping stone to something better and at the most the beginning of something amazing.

You're probably wondering by now why I'm rambling on about muses and deadlines. Or maybe you're not. The people who read this most often probably know exactly what I'm talking about and exactly where I'm going.

I'm just wondering when it became the custom for people to assign a deadline - which is supposed to be pretty concrete - only to just change it on a whim and expect 2 weeks worth of work to be completed in less than half that time... and still be effing amazing.

Anyone want to weigh in here?