Since I started working as a Senior Software Engineer in an MNC, I have felt the deadline heat quite often. And It is not something like a typical college assignment deadline. The stakes are high and the margin for error is low.
I still remember the first time when the "deadline" word was passed in one of the meetings and I simply cannot forget what followed after. It was an integration project which sort of had a steep learning curve at the start and we were still quite fresh into it. I was confident that we would be able to complete it the way it was desired but I wasn't sure of the day we will finish it. The team used to spend hours in the "WAR ROOM" discussing their findings, queries, and progress. It felt adventurous. Almost as if fighting the ender dragon with just silver armor (which is impossible). After a couple of days of agony and fatigue, we were thrown a deadline our way which was unexpected, difficult, and sounded like a mistake at first. But as the famous saying goes, nothing is impossible.
It was quite overwhelming at first, I had spent all-nighters before completing projects and assignments so it was not new, but you never grow into it really. It's quite natural, isn't it? We all have the ability to achieve what we want, but the process of doing it makes us not want it. It's quite strange how it is, imagine yourself training for a half marathon, the sweat, pain, fatigue everything makes you question why you are doing so much for something that will be over in a day, but it is only after months of prep and that final day run, you realize that it was all worth it, I guess this feeling only comes when you keep thinking about quitting during the process and then go on and do it anyway with the pain and the thought of experiencing it.
I feel that every person has this inherent curiosity that what will happen after they have done it, and the feeling of, "might as well find out now" that follows which makes us push through the last mile. So we did. we spent 13 hours every day of the week for 2 weeks straight, learning, solving, and completing the stipulated work. We went through arguments, disagreements, and long discussions but at the end when we gave the demo, the client had a slight smile on their face and nodded along. As if they expected just about what we achieved, nothing more, nothing less, of course, there were bugs in the code, and of course, it wasn't perfect but it was something, that made me happy. We weren't compensated for the extra work, but to be honest, we didn't need it. I guess we as a team took it as a challenge and not just "assigned work", which made the difference. And this made an impact on me. It's not always about the reward, recognition, or monetary gain. Sometimes it's about something that is a lot more, ie learning and a sense of satisfaction. I am glad that somewhere on the web, the integration that I developed is being used by people I don't even know, but indirectly I am helping them get things done.
