9 out of 10 of the items on my current task list are on deadline.

Deadline is a system for getting things done. When there's a due date it forces things onto the metaphorical front burner. There's no putting it off. There's no procrastinating. Do or die. Get 'er done. Butt in the chair. Do the work.

The problem with too much on looming deadline is that too many things have moved up to the urgent/important quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix. Spending too much time here creates way more stress than I care to have in my life. Hurry. Get it done.

It's much better to have only a few items on deadline (Again, there's nothing wrong with a deadline. It's a system. Systems are good.), but to be far enough ahead of the deadline curve to have space for the most important quadrant in the Eisenhower matrix:

Important, non-urgent.

If you don't make margin for this things will evolve quickly into unimportant/urgent — and that's a place to avoid like an outlet mall on Black Friday. Too much activity with little to show for it.

Today and tomorrow my primary task is to kill everything on deadline so I can set myself up with space next week to do the things that are important, but not urgent. The more I can live there, the more value I can create for my family, my clients, and myself.