Deadlines

[andygates]

In a recent study, students were given three choices to hand in their work: All at the end of term; at three dates chosen by them; at weeks 4, 8 and 12.  The students given the strictest deadlines got the best grades; the ones with the most slack in their schedule got the worst.

"Pressure is a privilege."  Billie Jean King famously said that, and it's true: Pressure can create diamonds.  It's not about the raw quantity, mind, it has to be the right kind of pressure or you'll buckle and meep and just plain fail.  So: pressure gives you the chance to achieve beyond your presumed capacity.  You'll never really sprint unless there's glory or squishy-under-traffic or velociraptors involved.

This is why I enter races.  It's not about proving myself, beating anyone else, or even as markers in training or a celebration of how far I've come - though it was all that, once.  Now I race because I know that the race will pull more out of me than I think I have to give, and I freaking love that.  I've come full circle on the drill instructor demanding all veiny-necked to "Give me 110%, Marine!"   I don't tolerate crappy maths; but my 100% threshold is wrong; it's these pressure events that recalibrate it, and that's a delight. 

This November there's NaNoWriMo, a one-month novel writing challenge.  Sturm und drang and doubtless a ghastly pot-boiler at the end of it, but talk about shooting for the moon!  And on the 3rd October is an even more terrifying challenge: 24 Hour Comics Day.  24 hour, 24 pages.  That's a stimulants-and-xylene mainline right there.  But doesn't everyone think, "I could do that"?

Comments

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

I'll be doing Nanowrimo, assuming woo doesn't get in the way (again).

Races are still motivation/puncutation marks for me. I don't have that problem with not being able to push myself.

I have invisible friends to do that.

Although "friends" is a bit of a misnomer.

[simoneck.livejournal.com]

Hummm...couldn't that just mean that the students who chose the tighter deadlines were the more dedicated ones?
Assigning the deadlines at random to the students (or even better, randomly within each academic band) would surely have been better.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

I'd have to check and of course, I can't remember where I saw the original article. Clearly random assignment would be academically rigorous. I know I'd have chosen "all three at the end of term" otherwise!