Complete execution well before deadline.

Minimize man-hours.

Maximizing execution speed of every program is a foolish waste of resources.

Focus on big gains, 80/20 rule (Pareto principal). 20% of effort typically yields 80% of gains. Don't waste time or hardware trying to squeeze out marginal gains unless it's really necessary. If it won't mean meeting a deadline that would otherwise be missed, or free up saturated resources, then it's a waste.