When I’ve taken on too much work, I try to do a few things to keep myself from going completely nuts. Here’s a little handy list in no particular order:
Whittle Away the Pile–I take the projects that are due last and try to nibble away at them in between more pressing deadlines. I’ll hit a little research in the AM before launching into my main work, then do a bit more work after breaks or lunch–again, before getting into my main gig. That probably sounds crazy, but I’ve found that knocking out sections of busywork or writing chores that don’t require a lot of thinking time gives me a sense that I’m making progress on everything.
Knock Out the Easy Ones–When I have many things coming due at the same time, I try to hammer out a few of the easiest things first to make more time for the tougher writing.
Most of our non-Chicago readers might think we’re blowing things a bit out of proportion, but there’s a sales tax controversey here in Chi-town over leglislation that would make sales tax in Cook County (where Freelance-Zone.com is based) one of the highest in the U.S. if not the world.
I’ve long been a proponent of buying online, especially if you are buying from a big-box retailer. I do spend my local dollars on small mom-and-pop outfits whenever possible but it’s not a political act for me so I don’t beat myself up if I buy a Starbucks latte when the local hangouts are full. That’s just silly, and besides–competition is a good thing. It’s just too bad the Bucks is quite inferior to my local–and often full–favorites.
A week or so ago, I posted my top five productivity enhancers for when I am feeling the need for a major boost to hit that rapidly approaching deadline or kick out yet another round of queries to my favorite editors. Now I present my favorite time-killers– those web sites I visit when I need a mental break from the writing game. Beware, these sites WILL sap valuable time from your day and are too much fun not to explore in depth. The way I see it, the time I spend on these sites is the time I would spend in the car doing a commute if I was slaving away in an office somewhere. It all balances out, right?
There is tons of advice out there for the beginning writer. If you take a look at the suggestions, they range from, “write at least 1,000 words a day” to “don’t quit your day job”. Since I don’t write 1,000 words daily, and I jumped right into freelancing, I can’t say either of these worked for me.
One of the best tools a freelance writer can own is a good digital camera. Supplying your own images for an article can make you more marketable, and any steady reader of this blog knows we are digital camera evangelists here. Writers who don’t take their own photos wind up cheating themselves out of the extra cash you often get for supplying images together with the story.
“Which camera should I buy?” Naturally this is the first question non-photographers always ask. There are two basic kinds of cameras; the point-and-shoot (P&S) variety and digital SLRs. SLR stands for “single lens reflex” and this basically means that what you see what you look in the viewfinder is the exact image the lens sees.
I strongly advise writers not to buy the cheap P&S model. For professional use, even as a beginner, P&S cameras are too limited and you will grow out of them as soon as you learn the difference between what an indoor shot with no flash looks like at 100 ISO vs. 800 ISO. What does THAT mean? We’ll save that for another article.
I’ve been trying an experiment whenever I need to pick up some quick cash in the slow times. I try to find work in the most out of the way, unusual places. Just for laughs I have set up account at freelance sites I’d never otherwise bother with, like those places where you have to be the lowest bidder on work that pays peanuts to begin with? I’ve set up accounts on several for when the real work dries up.
Some of my fellow writers ask me why I bother doing this, and my reasoning is simple–I’m not in it for the work. I am actually looking for relationships with people who are willing to pay for writing. That first job offered on the bid-for-work sites may not pay you what you’re really worth, but when that client comes back to you again and again as a satisfied customer, that’s worth its weight in gold.
