Meeting deadlines

It seems that, for my writing life, there are two modes: bored-out-of-my-skull mode and the-moon-must-be-full mode.

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CONTEST DEADLINE APPROACHES

The Coffee-Stained Poetry Contest (I just thought of that--do you like it?) deadline is tomorrow! If you haven't submitted your poem (or post about poetry), now is the time to do it!

Details about the contest are here.

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?