Yeah, you are doing it wrong if scrum is deadlines. I've worked with people who had to pull all nighters to get all sprint content done before the sprint closes. I'm using it more as a window to do some cheap analysis on our progress.

They are always deadlines as long as the cycle is official. An informal status update can be done with the project management tool, a 1:1 meeting or a quick team meeting (in this order)

My experience is very different. Sprint wasn't a deadline in any of the companies I've worked at.