For many weeks, I had been thinking about putting together my new marketing ideas into a slide deck that I could present to customers and prospects. I just didn’t get around to doing it. And then, my team came to me and said that I needed to present (virtually) at Netcore’s Martech Global Summit in Miami. Suddenly, I had a date and time.
In the span of a week, I worked through multiple iterations of the deck to ensure I could tell the story right and succinctly. While I can be verbose in my blogging, here I had to make sure I kept the story moving along quickly – communicating my NeoMarketing ideas and Netcore’s pathbreaking innovations. The constraint of time forced clarity of thought. Two powerful frameworks emerged naturally: a 1-2-3-4 format (1 mission, 2 technologies, 3 problems, and 4 innovations) along with a House (of NeoMarketing) concept.
Of course, I put on a good show in the end! But this experience left me pondering: why hadn’t I created this deck earlier? Without pressure, without a forcing function, without a deadline, I had procrastinated since there was no audience. The moment I knew I had to present publicly, everything changed. Parkinson’s Law came into play – work expanded to fill the time available, but more importantly, work compressed when time became scarce.
This phenomenon isn’t unique to presentations. Writers often talk about how book deadlines from publishers drive their creative process. Startup founders frequently cite how upcoming investor meetings sharpen their business plans. Even artists, known for their free-spirited approach, often produce their best work under the pressure of gallery opening dates.
In life, these triggering events move us forward. It’s like the difference between peacetime and wartime. Just like in war, there are no second chances. I knew I had to get the pitch perfect to persuade the marketers in the room. But why do we wait for external pressure? Looking at my own patterns, I see this behaviour in my daily life. For example, I meticulously clean up my inbox before long travel, as if Air India requires a tidy inbox!
The key question becomes: how can we create these “artificial” forcing functions to improve ourselves? Some successful professionals I know set monthly public commitments on social media. Others join accountability groups that meet weekly. Some even hire coaches not just for their expertise, but for the regular check-ins that force progress.
Perhaps the secret lies in understanding that real deadlines work because they combine three elements: a specific time constraint, public accountability, and meaningful consequences. The challenge is to recreate these conditions for our self-imposed goals, turning abstract “someday” plans into concrete “by next Thursday” commitments.
What forcing functions could you create for yourself this week?
