Comments on: How Being Late Hurts Your Freelance Writing Career and Your Life

By: Thomas

Thomas — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 13:01:43 +0000

Couldn’t agree more. Being punctual and managing your time wisely is definitely essential, no matter what line of business you’re in.

Thanks.

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Weekly favorites (Apr 29-May 5) | Adventures in Freelance Translation — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:22:39 +0000

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By: How I Renegotiated a Freelance Writing Deadline

How I Renegotiated a Freelance Writing Deadline — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:03:53 +0000

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By: John Soares

John Soares — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:25:01 +0000

In reply to Sarah L. Webb.

Bummer about your meeting Sarah. Such things do eventually happen to all of us, especially when we are traveling to some place we haven’t been before.

That’s why it’s a good idea to leave much earlier, just in case…

By: Sarah L. Webb

Sarah L. Webb — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:12:23 +0000

I am usually a very early person, like the first one to show up even before the doors are opened, but recently, I was late for something (it happens, I thought the address was 1000, but it was 100). I felt miserable, and because it was my first time meeting these people, they were polite, but I can tell that they had been complaining before I got there, and had totally written me off.

That just goes to show, no matter what you’ve done in the past, it’s what you do today that matters. I HATE being late.

By: John Soares

John Soares — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:10:15 +0000

In reply to Lori. Lori, your experience as an editor is, I think, a common one. It's likely most editors give a due date that's earlier than the actual due date. That's why I always ask what the true due date is!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:19:27 +0000

Punctuality is something that was bred into me. My mother’s early or on time. So is my sister, my dad, my brother…. we are a punctual people. I guess it’s ironic that my sister and I both married non-clock watchers. 😉

I have never been late on a deadline. Well, that’s not entirely true — I’ve never been late on a deadline that was attainable or had enough time to finish the job. For the one I couldn’t meet, I told them months out that their expectations were unrealistic. They knew long before it came that I wasn’t meeting that deadline, and they were okay with it.

Problems with late-comers: A few from my senior editor days were given deadlines that corresponded with their lateness. You could start to see the patterns: Dave was always two days late, Leo was a week late, etc. I simply expected things in earlier from them, not telling them the true deadline. Kept me from pulling out my hair. 🙂

Had a client who was a serial late-comer. She simply didn’t show up — several times. She’d make these conference call appointments, send me dial-in numbers and calendar invites. After she missed three in a row, I simply kept working and left the musack play on speaker. In total, she missed well over 12 phone calls. It got to a point where I’d wait 5 minutes instead of 15 or 20, then I’d hang up. She never apologized and never remembered unless I reminded her.

That one ended badly, but that’s another story. 🙂

By: John Soares

John Soares — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:13:01 +0000

In reply to Anne Wayman. Anne, I always give myself 5-10 more minutes to get ready than I think I'll really need. Often I actually need those extra minutes.

By: John Soares

John Soares — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 23:11:39 +0000

In reply to J'aime Wells. This situation can lead to a spiral of lateness. Since he's 10 minutes late, everyone else shows up 10 minutes late. And then one day somebody is 15 minutes late and a new cycle begins. I try very hard to avoid working with people like that!