I can see of course why clients want deadlines, but I can't help but imagine that deadline-based work is somehow antithetical to who we are as humans. We are su

I can see of course why clients want deadlines, but I can't help but imagine that deadline-based work is somehow antithetical to who we are as humans. We are supposed to go out and make what we can of the daylight, then retire satisfied that any work towards foraging or the homestead is good work. You don't set out to forage x amount in y days; you forage for a period of time and see what you end up with by the end. There is no deadline or quota to meet for this sort of work, nor can one provide any estimates because things are often well out of your hands, controlled by the forces of nature. Not all that many jobs grant you the opportunity to work like this in the modern knowledge worker domain, unfortunately, so we are constantly stressing ourselves out with these self imposed "deadlines" that go against the sensibilities of how our species evolved. Of course you end up grey haired and stressed out before long, we aren't built for this. Maybe a job that allows you time to venture into the woods and come back at your own pace so to speak is the kind to have for a low stress life, perhaps one a little better suited to our underlying biology.