A deadline should improve the decision’s focus rather than replace its reasoning.

Time pressure is useful because it stops endless circling and forces a choice among real options. It becomes harmful when the date itself becomes the argument, when the answer to why is simply that the deadline arrived. A decision made that way tends to be defended later on the same grounds, which is no defence at all.

When you are close to a deadline, take ten minutes to write the reason you would give if there were no date. If nothing survives that test, either the option is wrong or the date needs moving.