Hey,<\/p>\n
In this email I’m going to share with you a simple tactic that can
\ngreatly reduce the stress you face in your studies.<\/p>\n
That tactic is simple: avoid hard deadlines whenever possible.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
What is a “Hard” Deadline?<\/p>\n
I like to distinguish two types of deadlines you might face–hard
\nand soft.<\/p>\n
A hard deadline is a deadline that has an objective consequence if
\nyou’re late. The due date on most academic assignments fit into this
\npicture nicely. Finish late and you lose marks or fail.<\/p>\n
A soft deadline, in contrast, is a deadline that only has a
\nsubjective consequence. This means that if you miss it, nothing
\nterrible will happen, but you may feel bad for not getting it done.<\/p>\n
An example of a soft deadline is wanting to finish your essay this
\nweek, even though it isn’t due in a month. There is psychological
\npressure to finish–but that’s it. There’s no objective consequences
\nto not meeting this “soft” deadline.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Avoid Hard Deadlines<\/p>\n
The key to avoiding a lot of stress is to avoid having your “hard”
\ndeadline be the same as your actual deadline for stress-enabling
\ntasks.<\/p>\n
Any big tasks that cause you a lot of stress are better done on a
\nsoft deadline. There are two reasons for this, one obvious, the
\nother more subtle.<\/p>\n
The obvious reason to use soft deadlines is that you have a mistake
\nzone if something goes wrong. If you’re sick, missing a key paper
\nor simply can’t finish on time, you’ll still be fine. This is the
\nreason most students think of when they feel they “should” finish
\nassignments ahead of their due date.<\/p>\n
It turns out that isn’t the big reason why to use soft deadlines.
\nAlthough this logic is true, some people perform better under
\npressure. Also, it requires more discipline to finish things in
\nadvance than to just do them on time.<\/p>\n
The real reason soft deadlines are powerful is because hard
\ndeadlines tend to clump.<\/p>\n
It would be nice to live in a world where all the deadlines were
\nevenly distributed. But that isn’t the case.<\/p>\n
Midterms, final papers, exams and projects tend to clump so that a
\nlot of assignments will be due in a small period and there will be
\ngaps with relatively few deadlines.<\/p>\n
This means if you rely on hard deadlines to motivate yourself,
\nyour work schedule will oscillate between being completely
\noverwhelmed and free during the term.<\/p>\n
Using soft deadlines allows you to strategically shift this burden
\naway, so that you can do a minimal, constant amount of work and
\nnever have to cram or crunch again.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Harder “Soft” Deadlines<\/p>\n
The key to getting this system to work, however, is to build up the
\nmental habit of thinking of your “soft” deadlines in harder terms.<\/p>\n
This can be a tricky mental habit to form–especially if you’re used
\nto relying on due dates to motivate yourself.<\/p>\n
However, here are a few suggestions I have for making it work:<\/p>\n
– In your calendar, mark both the hard and soft deadline. This will
\nremind you both of when something is actually due and when you
\nwant to strategically finish it early.<\/p>\n
– Use your weekly daily goals to “push” items further down the
\ncalendar into your schedule.<\/p>\n
– Get in the habit of emphasizing your personal schedule over any
\nobjective one. This habit allows you to work on your terms, not
\non anyone else’s.<\/p>\n
Once you have harder “soft” deadlines, you can rely on this personal
\nschedule to smooth out the normal irregularities in your classes.<\/p>\n
I’ve often been surprised to find that when actually doing this, I
\ncan greatly reduce my subjective feeling of busyness, because I work
\na minimal amount each week, instead of just in large clumps near the
\nend.<\/p>\n
Moreover, it’s easier to habituate yourself to a certain amount of
\nwork each week, than large bursts, so the habitual work goes
\nunnoticed.<\/p>\n
Good luck with this tactic, and I’ll see you on the other side!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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