Introduction: A CTO’s Words Saved Me

Early in my career, I was assigned to my first burning project—the Japanese IT slang enjō purojekuto, meaning a project so far behind that everyone is working unsustainable hours.

The deadline loomed. Requirements kept being added. Our project manager tried to accept all of them. The PM was pulling all-nighters half the week. I was practically a rookie, yet I was also pulling an all-nighter every week and working weekends. It felt endless.

One day, the CTO—one of the few people I genuinely respected back then, despite my arrogance—saw me and said:

“Work ends when the deadline comes. So take it easy.”

I did not grasp the meaning immediately. Yet that line has supported me ever since. It was not a throwaway comfort; it cut to the essence of work.

The Surface Meaning: A Deadline Always Arrives

“Work ends when the deadline comes” first states a simple fact.

  • Every job has a due date. If no deadline exists, perhaps it does not matter.
  • When the deadline arrives, the job ends.

That “ending,” however, takes more than one form.

  1. You finish on time. ✅
  2. You fail to finish and the clock runs out. ❌

A deadline does not guarantee results. It exists to force a break in the work. Even when a project feels endless, time eventually brings it to a close.

The Deeper Meaning: Protect Your Mind

That much already reveals a truth about work.

But the core goes deeper.

Deadlines can be extended. Repeated delays make a job feel infinite. Yet even so, every project ends at some point. Nothing goes on forever.

Therefore you do not have to work yourself to death. You do not have to sacrifice your health or your life.

Whether you succeed or not, the work will end.

Once I accepted that, an inner margin opened up. I no longer felt compelled to finish “even if I collapse.” With some distance, I could judge more calmly, deliver better output, and lower the risk of burnout. That, in turn, improved the odds of ending well.

Knowing There Is an End Is What Lets Us Begin

Knowing that a job ends is what lets us take it on in the first place.

Marathons have a finish line; that is why we run. Work has deadlines; that is why we commit.

  • Goals give meaning to effort.
  • Endpoints let us start the next challenge.
  • Deadlines keep work from dominating life.

That firestorm of a project taught me that even the work that looks endless does end, and believing in that end is often the best way forward.

Of course, that does not guarantee success. Clients and bosses may still be furious. You might even face legal threats.

But brooding alone only makes things worse.

What We Can Do: Keep Emotional Slack

The CTO’s words were not mere consolation.

  • However painful the project, it will end.
  • What you deliver will depend on circumstances as well as effort.
  • With mental slack, you are less likely to suffer severe distress or illness and more likely to end in better shape.

Our task is to remember that inevitability, resist cornering ourselves, and keep a little room in our hearts.

Conclusion: Deadlines Are a Lifeline

“Work ends when the deadline comes.”

For anyone being crushed by work, that line is medicine.

Ultimately it means: “Work ends. Do not destroy yourself to keep going.”

If you maintain some composure, your outcomes and your health improve, and you stand a better chance of finishing well.

That one sentence from a CTO in the middle of chaos has become my baseline mindset. Responsibility is admirable, but if pressure ruins your health or threatens your life, performance collapses and misery follows.

If you are standing next to someone teetering on the edge of overwork—even on the edge of karoshi, Japan’s word for death from overwork—please share this perspective.