Hey guys (ignores Balrog chasing them). Lets long rest!
Pick an action, sci-fi, rom-com or any other movie. There is always a temporal pressure, where the protagonists cant just chill out and take their time. There is always a ticking time bomb (often literally), a girl to confess your love to before she flies out of the airport for good, a loved one to rescue from the BBEG, a terrorist or nemesis with an evil plan to foil etc.
Star Wars has them all throughout as already shown. Evacuate the Rebel fleet, blow up/ escape the Death Star. Rescue Leia and Han etc. Action movies have them (can Matrix save his daughter before the evil dictator realises he's not on the plane), Superhero flicks have them (can the Heroes stop Thanos before he gets the Infinity stones and wreaks havoc; can Batman stop the Joker before his girlfriend gets blown up in the death trap, or detonates the bombs on the ferry etc).
Our protagonists never have all the time in the world to thwart the antagonist, and it's usually down to the final seconds of the ticking bomb, or just as Yavin 4 comes into range of the Superlaser that they prevail. That's what drives the story forward, and gives the climactic victory its tension, desperation, and pay off for the hero and the audience.
Why should your DnD stories be any different?
A quest where I could just wander off for a few days and it doesnt matter, doesnt matter.