There's nothing quite like writing under a deadline. It can sometimes be like having a gun to your head, but if you persevere, it can actually be a rewarding experience and help make you a better writer. That's what I've been doing over the last 8 weeks or so as I tackled an enormous amount of content creation that I agreed to do and I'm happy to say that I succeeded.

I was reading an article in the Wall St. Journal about high-performing individuals who who start their day at 4AM. Steve Jobs was famously known for an early rise like that, and the smart executives at Apple made sure that they were awake early as well to respond to his morning missives.

Something similar happens to me whenever I'm racing to meet a writing (or other) deadline, as I never would have met my output goal otherwise.

At the start I was powering up some HIVE daily, but had to abandon that as the all-important date drew closer. Turns out that I'd be tempted to checkout interesting Hive posts and next thing you know, I'd spend hours going the rabbit-hole.

So I had to put a pause on that as I kept one eye on the ever-approaching calendar date, which seemed to be bearing down on me like that giant boulder in the Indiana Jones movie.

Everything had to be cut back so that I could concentrate a laser focus on the task at hand.

I have a plan of attack when I write under deadline, and I've found that late night and early morning writing sessions can be your friend. With all distractions neatly folded away, I prepare a rough outline and then just start banging away.

If you've read my work over time, you'll know that I like to give myself what I call 'Little Victories' along the way once I hit certain benchmarks. Wanna watch that K-Pop documentary series on Apple TV+? Knock out ten completed posts today, and you get to follow the journey of Cravity and Blackswan.

An all-nighter was required on the last evening before deadline day, and I've never typed so much in my life. But about halfway through, I was still brimming with article ideas, and felt completely in the zone.

I kept pushing through, and by the end of that last writing session, the realization hit that I made it. I even had some cushion leftover that I can use going forward in the form of posts "in the bank" ready for a rainy day.

What I've found is that each time I finish one of these, my pool of creativity deepens and expands, taking in more surface area and making me a better writer. This works well here on Hive and for any important venture in your life. Make a plan, stick to it, and earn those little victories along the way.