People who demand an instant answer are often counting on you not to think.

Urgency is a tool at least as often as it is a fact. A real deadline can usually survive you taking an hour, while a manufactured one cannot, which is exactly why the pressure arrives attached to it. The rush is not about the schedule. It is there to get around your judgment before your judgment has had a chance to turn up.

Keep one line ready: I will let you know tomorrow. Then watch the response, because the response tells you which kind you were dealing with. Genuine deadlines come with an explanation, and pressure comes with irritation that you asked for time.