“I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”
(Douglas Adams)

Yesterday was Deadline Day for me. Turns out we’re releasing a 10th Anniversary Revised Edition of ScreamFree Parenting in the fall, with lots of new stories and applications, and I had to turn in the first draft yesterday.

Before Deadline Day, I hate Deadline Day. I am miserable the week leading up to it (just ask Jenny), and I simply cannot quit tinkering and editing the project right up to the minute it’s due. Combine this with all the normal self-doubt and pressure that comes with creating anything, and it can make for a crappy few days.

After Deadline Day is a much different experience. Life is beautiful and I’m feeling free and accomplished. People ask me all the time whether I enjoy writing. The answer is a definite No. But I can’t stop doing it because I absolutely love having written.

This is why we need deadlines. Any creative endeavor, whether it be a book or a building, a painting or an accounting project, needs a deadline.

You’ll hate it before, but you’ll love it after.

Peace begins with pause,