To work against the clock

争分夺秒的工作。

They had to work against the clock to meet the deadline.

他们必须对着钟表以便赶在最后期限做完。

They work against the clock to get the meat on the table while the animal it came from (usually fish, shrimp, squid, etc) is still alive and twitching.

在这些海鲜被捞起来后（通常是鱼、虾、鱿鱼、或是其它），他们就必须争分夺秒地在它们还活着，能挣扎的时候取得肉。