Right on. At @testdouble we use the term "time boxes" most of the time to describe any time an artificial sense of urgency could improve our productivity when we lack sufficient constraints. Work that would take me a full day in the absence of constraints can often be knocked out in half that time if I just challenge myself to *try* to accomplish something meaningful by, say, lunch.

Do you think using the word "deadline" in your opening line might sufficiently turn some people away who have deadline PTSD? What you're describing is certainly *not* what most people think of as a deadline, so starting off by equating them may derail readers' minds or put them on the defensive. (One alternative might be open with a commiseration that "we all hate deadlines, but ..." or a discussion of our relationship with time/pressure/urgency more generally.

Just a thought