The cure for deadline stress
All of us face deadlines.
That’s such a daunting word, isn’t it? In our studio, we see people dealing with deadlines throughout the year. With our students, we create our own version of deadlines with recitals and performance classes.
Do deadlines have to cause stress? They do for a lot of people. What’s the alternative? Our students have a recital coming up soon and some performers are feeling the pressure.
The solution for deadline stress is simple but not necessarily easy to apply. Most of us don’t have a reliable system for achieving goals without anxiety.
Almost all deadlines are not a complete surprise to us, so a combination of advance planning and habit forming give you the clam edge to face any deadline. Try the following techniques before you face your next deadline:
Plan. Visualize. Create a positive habit.
1. Write down a plan for achieving a goal that relates to the practice in question — the more specific, the greater your chances of succeeding
2. Set aside a particular time in each day for your creative practice and do it at that time
3. Give yourself the luxury of creating a practice habit by doing it for 21 days in a row
4. Allow yourself total focus by removing distractions from your practice space (you know what those things are)
5. If there is a deadline, create a pretend “early deadline” and shoot for that date instead — this gives you some room to make adjustments before the real deadline arrives
6. Visualize the results you desire on a daily basis as you’re falling asleep each night
7. Celebrate you success when you fulfill an intention — this helps you build self-confidence and memories of success
8. Repeat this process again for the next deadline or goal
Naturally, doing all 8 steps will give you the best chance of success. Success with this process is not only the attainment of a goal, it’s also the feeling of calm confidence that results from planning, visualizing and creating a positive habit.
Create your own luck!
