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What! I’d get nothing done without deadlines!
Ditto, though I can be very productive, I have a natural tendency to procrastinate. In fact it is one of my natural talents!
So what are these researchers saying?
Knowles et al. at the University of Chicago in a study just published looked at how different length deadlines, and no deadlines, impacted task completion.
And…?
In this task, which was completing a short survey (about 5 minutes long), and in return there would be a $10 donation to charity, people were put into three groups: one with a short deadline (1 week), one with a long deadline (1 month), and one with no deadline, to complete the survey.
The response rate was highest for the group with no deadline followed by the short deadline and last was that with a long deadline. Response rate was more than 50% higher with the no deadline condition!
Oh wow — and why do you think this is?
Well, it could be that the long deadline moves it to the future and reduces urgency — it is then subsequently forgotten. In the no deadline situation we may impose implicit deadlines on ourselves and it remains in our consciousness.
