Laptop running on battery: how to finish in less time

A few weeks ago I was to give four back-to-back lectures (essentially, the last module of the JazzCode Presentation Method) to a group of executives from a global IT company attending London Business School.   I had decided to spend time revamping all of my teaching material.  But as I unpacked in my hotel room, getting ready to start working on my computer I realized that my power supply was left at home.  I called the concierge:  Can you help me? I asked, trying to hide the desperation I felt.  The voice in the other end was polite, but unable to help.  He knew of no computer stores open on a Sunday afternoon in London.  The green battery on my task bar showed me that I had two hours left before the electronic heart of my computer body would stop, two hours before everything would shut down, like a suffocating body going into coma.



I realized that I had no choice.  I had to finish in two hours.  I had to ignore my own desire for perfection.  I wrote out a message on the back of my business card:  Ignore your urge to be perfect.  I photographed it with my cellphone and transferred it to my computer.  I placed it as the second slide.  I discovered that I had spelled "perfect" wrong.  I did not have time to change it.

I finished ten minutes before the deadline imposed by the lack of power.  I sent it off five minutes before I was liberated from technology by the lack of power.  I was relieved. I had six hours to myself, six hours where I could sleep or read a newspaper or sit in a restaurant or go for a walk.
I had learned something.  Imposing absolute boundaries forces a very healthy discipline.  I was reminded of two sayings from my past:

- The less time you have, the less time it takes.
-  Perfection is the enemy of the good.

How can you set yourself deadlines that are absolutes -- for yourself, for your team and for your subordinates?