When the finish line of a project is in sight a lot of things start coming into stark relief. The first, of course, is the relief you feel that it is almost over. But the next few are the important ones. The next thing you realize is that all those “good enough for now” solutions you had? Yep, need to deal with those. Any niggling doubts about design sitting in the back of your head? Better bring them out and examine them now before its too late. Had any last ideas? Better hurry and figure out if you even want to try them.

In short the finish line, or any kind of deadline, can force you to make decisions about a project that you otherwise might put off as “less important”. Not unimportant mind you, just things that can wait for a bit… and then a bit longer. And before you know it, the finish line is in sight and you haven’t gotten around to them yet.

And sometimes, this deadline can even help you find things you didn’t know you needed to address. For instance, I have been happy with my scene transitions up to this point. But in light of the finish line fast approaching I thought “Could I do better?” And so I tried something new… and loved the effect. And in deciding on that new effect I also chose to change a few other effects I was using.

As the saying goes “limitation breeds innovation.” And that limitation can be almost anything. Limit on the medium used, on budget, style, or even time frame. And nothing is quite as effective a deadline, and therefore a limitation, as the finish line.