Why I Only Work Well Under Pressure
A late-night reflection on deadlines, motivation, and the habits we carry from school to adulthood
Since I’m in the mood to write today, let me tell you about something I was thinking about last night before I fell asleep.
You know those fleeting moments just before sleep — when your brain lights up with good ideas, deep thoughts, or perfect topics to write about? I always seem to find them right then. But by the time I wake up, it’s like the spark disappears. I’ve talked about this before somewhere on this blog — how writing needs emotional presence, and that emotional connection to a topic seems to vanish with the night.
Huwa nasema namedi before nilale — I go deep into my thoughts before I sleep. I don’t know if there’s a proper word to describe it, but I feel most in tune with myself in that quiet, undistracted space. Then, morning comes, distractions roll in, and poof — the motivation’s gone.
Anyway, what I was thinking about yesterday was this whole thing around working under pressure. I’ve always been that “last-minute” type of person. There’s even a name for this — the Pareto Principle, where 20% of the effort leads to 80% of the results. But for me, that 20% always seems to happen right before a deadline. That’s when I do some of my best work. When there’s a looming deadline, I become hyper-focused, ideas flow, and I execute like I’m on fire. But once that pressure is gone, so is the drive.
And that bugs me.
Because I always tell myself I’ll change. That next time, I’ll start earlier. That I’ll pace myself, work when I have time, and avoid the chaos. I imagine how much more I could accomplish if I had that same burst of productivity not just once — but consistently. If I can do amazing things the night before a big presentation, imagine what I could do with a full week of that energy.
This made me think about something else I’ve always believed in: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. To me, that means if you help water your neighbor’s tree, you’ll still benefit from the shade, or even the fruit.
Applied to work — instead of constantly looking for better pay in a new job or splitting focus to start a side hustle, sometimes the real value is in going all in on where you are now.
For example, as a software engineer, if I focus all my energy on building the best application I possibly can for my current job — that product becomes easier to market. It becomes easier for the company to attract and retain clients. And if you’ve got a good boss (like I currently do), then the growth of the company benefits you, too. More money for the business = more money for you.
But here’s the kicker — all of that only works if you stop relying on deadlines to push you into action. It’s that simple. One plus one.
So why do we wait for pressure to perform?
Maybe the first reason is obvious: maybe you don’t like your work. But that’s not it for me — I love what I do. I’m in my dream job, with a great paycheck. So what else?
I don’t know if this is true — don’t quote me — but I wonder if it’s deeper than just laziness or poor planning. I wonder if this is something that started way back in uni, high school even primary school. That pattern of studying for exams at the last minute, doing assignments under pressure, cramming for that dreaded chemistry CAT. That feeling of hating the task but doing it anyway because the deadline demanded it.
Is it possible that we were conditioned — over years and years — to associate meaningful work with pressure?
I’m not sure. I’m just speculating at this point. Mumbling, even. But I do think there’s a connection here. Either that, or I’m just in denial and I don’t love my job as much as I thought.
Whatever the truth is, dear gentle reader, thank you for reading this far.
If any of this resonated with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. You can reach out or connect with me on any of my socials — all of them live at 👉 developerharon.com.
See you in the next one. ✌️