Deadlines and Perspective

We’re nearing the end of the year — that strange, slightly frantic stretch when it feels as if everything must be wrapped up neatly before the last day in the office. I’ve always found this period slightly amusing, if only because part of me knows it’s entirely self-created. And yet, year after year, I feel the familiar pull: the rush to complete projects, tie loose ends, finalise reports, meet targets, close budgets. If it’s the end of the accounting year, the pressure intensifies further. Everyone is pushing. Tempers shorten. The atmosphere thickens with urgency.

And when pressure mounts, something predictable happens: we push harder. We override our own limits, tell ourselves we just need to get through the next task… and the next… and the next. We tire. We make mistakes. We become frustrated at time wasted fixing those mistakes, and so, in a beautiful irony, we push even harder. I’ve done it, you’ve done it, we’ve all done it. It’s part of the modern workplace rhythm, and it takes a toll.

But here’s the interesting thing. When I catch myself getting swept up in this familiar end-of-year frenzy, I’ve learned to pause. Not because I’m naturally serene. Far from it. I pause because experience has shown me that intensity without perspective is a recipe for exhaustion and poor judgement.

A few days ago, I was staring at my own end-of-year “stack” — deadlines, plans, proposals, client work, next-year strategy — and feeling that rising sense of tightness in my chest that says, “Come on, Almira, move faster.” But instead, I stepped away from my desk, made a cup of tea, and simply let myself breathe. And in those few minutes of stepping back, something softened. The work didn’t change, but I did.

That’s really the heart of this: perspective.

When we step back, even briefly, the frantic blur of tasks begins to separate into something more manageable, more meaningful. We see the difference between what actually matters and what only feels urgent because of the noise around us. We notice the inefficiencies we’ve tolerated all year because we were too busy reacting. We see the systems that could be improved. The conversations that could unlock progress. The priorities that genuinely move the organisation forward and the ones that, frankly, don’t deserve our energy.

This is the space where senior leaders truly earn their impact. Not in the sprint, not in the firefight, but in the perspective that allows them to choose wisely instead of react quickly.

Imagine approaching your year-end not as a desperate race to the finish line but as an opportunity to recalibrate. To ask:

What is the real work here? What must be completed because it matters? And what can be released, renegotiated, redesigned — or simply dropped?

This is not avoidance. It’s leadership. It’s the shift from managing tasks to stewarding energy and focus: your own and your team’s. When you lead from perspective rather than pressure, something remarkable happens: people exhale. They think more clearly. They make better decisions. They feel supported rather than squeezed. And outcomes improve not because the team is running harder, but because they’re finally running in the right direction.

As we move into these final weeks of the year, you might be facing your own version of the overloaded list — the projects that “must” be done, the expectations that “must” be met, the deadlines that suddenly feel immovable simply because the calendar is turning.

Before you dive headlong into the push, give yourself permission to pause. Step back. Let the noise settle. And from that quieter place, ask yourself: What truly matters here?  The answer may surprise you. And it may just transform not only how you finish the year, but how you begin the next one.