against time/the clock idiom
（为了如期完成而）争分夺秒，加快工作，抢时间
If you do something against time/the clock, you do it as fast as possible and try to finish it before a certain time.
It was a real race against time to get all the costumes sewn for the play. 赶制演出的戏装真是如同与时间赛跑一样。