Comments on: Why Freelance Writers Often Miss Deadlines

By: Rama

Rama — Wed, 04 May 2016 13:41:05 +0000

I kind of have a counter to this. What is perceived as procrastination may be part of the process of organizing your thoughts for how to approach this writing.I sometimes have my best ideas on how to approach a task when I am doing something unrelated to the task. I don’t advocate missing deadlines but I have seen many people who I would describe as scatter brained but brilliant. These are people who seem to procrastinate but then when they do produce the work it exceeds your expectations as far as quality goes, sometimes being the best work you have seen. There should be a balance, deadlines that are too loose may not give the discipline to work effectively, deadlines that are too tight may force rushed work that does not produce the best quality work either.

By: Top 10 Ways to Be a More Productive Freelance Writer

Top 10 Ways to Be a More Productive Freelance Writer — Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:55:09 +0000

[…] “Why Freelance Writers Often Miss Deadlines” I explain Parkinson’s Law and what you need to do to make sure it doesn’t apply […]

By: Parvati Singh

Parvati Singh — Wed, 09 Apr 2014 12:42:44 +0000

Thank you for your post. I think that this time mismanagement issue is not unique to freelance writers though. We are all guilty of procrastinating, well at least I am. You know how it goes: procrastinators unite! tomorrow!

Setting deadlines for yourself in all ventures of life is so important because time really does just fly on by while you are not paying attention. Set deadlines but also set goals. Reflect on your goals every few months and when you see a goal should be nearing, set deadlines to make it happen. You wanted to go and see the Tulips in Holland for your wife’s 30th birthday? Well today is her 29th so you better start planning things.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 13:42:12 +0000

Some very good advice in there. It’s true, work always expands to fit the time available for it. I create tight self-imposed deadlines for every project and every task within the project. I’m very strict. I scare myself sometimes… but I never miss a deadline 🙂

By: Mitch @ YourCvBuilder

Mitch @ YourCvBuilder — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 07:08:20 +0000

Hey John,
I’m not a freelance writer myself, but i’m a freelance developer, and code expert and have been freelancing for at least 5 years now,
while i agree with you that sometimes boosting your motivation can help, challenging yourself and thinking about your bigger goals and why you’re doing this etc.., but no matter how motivated you are, without a practical and technical plan to make your work easier you would not be able to get this going for a long term, eventually motivation fades with your mood, if you’re not comfortable with your working situation.
first i thing i do is set up a realistic deadline, don’t promise to deliver in a short period you can’t possible meet on a normal working situation, and get all stressed out about it, and second i break down my task into smaller tasks for each day,
and then i even reward myself, even if i completed my small task for today, i take the rest of the day off do something i enjoy.
have a clear organized and most importantly not too overloaded schedule.
Many thanks and Best wishes!

By: Diane Holcomb

Diane Holcomb — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 03:28:48 +0000

Oh yeah, that’s me to a “T”. When I’m laboring over a project it’s usually because I’m trying to force it. If I back off and then rewrite it quickly from memory, it’s much better. The timer is great, except when I don’t honor the “ding”.

By: Robert Traynor

Robert Traynor — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 12:05:12 +0000

How do I meet all my deadlines? Simple! I just imagine a hulking standover guy pressing a gun to my head, yelling, “Hurry the %@!* up!”

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 02:15:51 +0000

I’m looking at it from the other side, I have hired a number of writers. What worked for me was to give writers more incentives, more work when they finish early. This tends to work well.

By: John Soares

John Soares — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 21:46:50 +0000

In reply to Gene Burnett. Stephanie and I are also good about planning moves. It helps that we've pared down all of our stuff. But like you, as soon as we know, we're going through stuff, packing the unessential items, getting the boxes, etc.

By: Gene Burnett

Gene Burnett — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 16:02:16 +0000

In reply to John Soares.

Right. I do the same thing whenever we’ve moved. As soon as we know we’re going to be moving, we start the process and start packing some of the stuff I know we won’t be needing before the move begins. It’s still a bit of a crunch at the very end but just a bit of one. I used to be a mover and I can’t tell you how many people were still doing major packing the day of the move. And sometimes it really cost them, because we would just be sitting around waiting for them to finish…and making the same amount of money as we would if we were working. ;~) GB