{"id":137756,"date":"2021-08-02T12:19:31","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T17:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=137756"},"modified":"2026-09-14T09:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T14:44:21","slug":"podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #728: Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines"},"content":{"rendered":"
Everyone has experienced the way deadlines<\/span> can act as a double-edged sword: on the one hand, they force us to get stuff done; but on the other, they often push us to wait until the last minute to get to work, so that we do that work in a poorly executed, slapdash rush. Scientists call that latter dynamic “the deadline<\/span> effect<\/span>,” and my guest today has taken a field-tested dive into how to manage it, so that you can get the advantages of deadlines<\/span>, without suffering from their downsides.<\/div>\n
\n

His name is Chrisopther Cox, and he’s the author of The Deadline<\/span> Effect<\/span>: How to Work Like It’s the Last Minute\u2014Before the Last Minute<\/i><\/a>. We begin our conversation with how Chris’s experience as a magazine editor got him interested in deadlines<\/span> and what studies have shown as to both their benefits and their pitfalls. Chris then unpacks ways to harness the former towards greater productivity in both your personal and professional life, including creating interim checkpoints, knowing how to set reasonable due dates, planning left to right rather than right to left, and using what he calls “soft opens with teeth.” Along the way, Chris explains these principles using a bunch of real world case studies, from the system a chef uses to open multiple Michelin 3-star restaurants to how the Telluride ski resort gets ready to open for the season. We end our conversation with what you can start doing today to take advantage of the power of deadlines in your own life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone has experienced the way deadlines can act as a double-edged sword: on the one hand, they force us to get stuff done; but on the other, they often push us to wait until the last minute to get to work, so that we do that work in a poorly executed, slapdash rush. Scientists call that latter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":195120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,156,42388],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-podcast","category-self-improvement"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nPodcast #728: Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to get more done with the power of deadlines with author Christopher Cox. Work like the last minute before the last minute.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #728: Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how to get more done with the power of deadlines with author Christopher Cox. Work like the last minute before the last minute.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/character\/self-improvement\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-02T17:19:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-14T14:44:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/728.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #728: Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T17:19:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T14:44:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":280,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/728.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Character\",\"Podcast\",\"Self-Improvement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2021\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast #728: Improve Your Productivity With the Power of Deadlines | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/self-improvement\\\/podcast-728-improve-your-productivity-with-the-power-of-deadlines\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/08\\\/728.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-02T17:19:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-14T14:44:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"description\":\"Learn how to get more done with the power of deadlines with author Christopher Cox. 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