Initially, I hated sprints - the tasks were always moved to the next sprint, despite the crunch, what's the point?
Then I joined a product team with no deadlines at all.
Big mistake.
Without pressure, release date turned into "maybe next quarter."
A two-week feature dragged on for months.
Stakeholders lost trust. We shipped nothing.
That’s when I realized: Deadlines aren’t the problem: bad deadlines are.
# The Right Way to Set Deadlines
Make Them Realistic, Not Arbitrary
Estimate how long the feature will take and set a date.
Cut the scope if necessary.
Provide context, why it's better to ship in this timeframe?
E.g. Competitors may finish faster and take the lead.
# Use Deadlines as Guardrails, Not Whips
Crunch mode should be rare. If every sprint ends in overtime, your deadlines are lies.
# No Deadline? Set a Timebox
For exploratory work: "Spend 2 days prototyping and then decide if it’s worth more time."
# The Bottom Line:
Deadlines force action. But if your team is always burned out, you’re not setting deadlines — you’re setting traps.
If there are no deadlines, it means the feature is not important.