Under a deadline we feel pressured and anxious when we think about a future deadline when a project is due. This pressure and anxiety occur because over years we have developed a habitual way of looking at the future, a way that can be called the 'pressure perspective': we occupy a point in time we call 'the present', and we look from this point to a somewhat distant segment of time called 'the future', which contains the deadline that is relentlessly closing in on us here in the present with a speed that seems unchangeable. (There are innumerable other perspectives: check out Linear vs. Timeless Views, or read about the experience of time during peak experiences in "The Qualities of Deadline Pressure Scenarios.") You can loosen up this habitual 'pressure perspective' by consciously adopting the perspective again and again. This will bring awareness to a somewhat unconscious habit and tend to break up the habit.
From your present position in time look forward to a deadline on some project you have. What do you see then? Now look farther ahead into the future until you identify another event (not necessarily a deadline). What do you see then? Once again look farther ahead into the future for another event. What do you see? Continue for a few minutes.
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What do you notice? Is there any outcome of this process?
How do you feel? Is there any sense of relaxation, contentment, or presence that wasn't there before? Or did the exercise just heighten the anxiety and pressure you were already feeling? (If it did, try the Balance Your Breathing exercise.)
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