What has worked for me is setting a time rather than a deadline. It’s just like having an appointment at that time. You have to show up at the stated time, and that’s a separate matter from doing anything in particular once you’re there. But once the time is approaching, I find myself anticipating the task and even being eager to do it.

Deadline imho is the wrong idea, it means again putting the thing off to the last possible moment, and then being in a miserable crunch.