When Deadlines Attack!: writing under pressure

It seems that, for my writing life, there are two modes: bored-out-of-my-skull mode and what-the-damn-is-going-on mode.

In bored-out-of-my-skull mode, I have scads of time to work on personal projects, get errands run, and spend time with Hubby and my fur babies because my freelance load is light or non-existent.  Many times it's great because I can scribble on my coffee house book or work on other personal projects.  But this mode gets it's title for a reason.  When I'm stuck with a personal project, I find myself...well...bored out of my skull.  There's only so much you can do to kill time, after all.  During this mode I find myself going a little crazy if I spend too much time indoors with nothing to do, I get incredibly restless, and I find myself doing things around the house I think are suddenly very important such as polishing the doorknobs in the apartment.

In what-the-damn-is-going-on mode, I find myself with so much on my task list I don't have time to create individual lists at the beginning of each day.  Instead, I work off my master list from the beginning of the week so I can get to work right away.  These are the days that, when Hubby asks me something, I stare at him for a good thirty seconds before I register that I have to respond, and my response is usually something along the lines of "Hang on a sec, Babe" and when I have a moment to respond he has to re-ask the question and the process starts all over again.  These are the times I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea to fix a problem project or a new direction for an article that will work much better and sneak away to my desk for an hour or so until I can barely keep my eyes open and will have to redo what I've written once I'm more rested.

The next couple of weeks I'll be in what-the-damn-is-going-on mode.  I have lots of articles due between now and October 27th, and though most of them shouldn't take too long to write, I feel like I'm falling behind.  When I feel behind I get more frazzled (that's frazzled, not Frazzoo-ed) than I would normally be in what-the-damn-is-going-on mode.  And that just makes things worse.

I'm still working on perfecting my method for everything, but I've come up with a few things that help me get through what-the-damn-is-going-on mode so I can meet my deadlines and keep from turning into a giant lizard and eating someone.

Take frequent breaks.  I find that when I have a great deal of work to do, taking breaks every hour or so helps me from getting too burned out from working on something too long.  Taking a break every so often also helps me rest my eyes a little, stretch my muscles, and be sure to keep myself hydrated.  I can also use the breaks to help break up the big projects into smaller tasks (I have to finish this section before I can take my next break.).

Divide the bigger projects into smaller ones.  It can be overwhelming to see a huge list of projects.  I, for example, have a set of ten articles due this week.  So instead of looking at it as a huge project, I break it into ten smaller projects.  Then, when I get through each smaller project, I feel like I'm working through my task list more quickly than if I have to wait until ten articles are finished to cross a task off your list.  That encouragement may be all you need to power through your tasks.

Jump around a little bit.  If I have a lot to work on, I know I have the luxury to work on something different if I'm stuck.  And sometimes I can trick myself; if I have six articles half done, I feel like I've gotten more done than if I had three articles completely done.  Tricky, yes, but if it keeps me motivated and keeps me moving toward my deadlines, I'll keep it.

I have never missed a deadline, even in the midst of a super-what-the-damn-is-going-on mode.  These little things keep me on track, keep me moving forward, and keep me from missing deadlines.

What do you do to get through your what-the-damn-is-going-on modes?