Freelance
Writers' Series
Career & Business
Development Help
It’s a relatively simple project, but for the life of me, I can’t seem to get going on it. All I have to do is write the “About” page and the “Photos” page. Parameters of the Project The About page consists of explaining the property at hand – it should be enticing enough to want to make someone take action (300-400 words). The photos page consist of 6-10 images and I have to write copy explaining the images (400-500 words). The project is due tomorrow and I have about 30 pages of copy to turn in. I’ve procrastinated and procrastinated on this project because I just don’t look forward to writing about it. So, I decided to write this post to see if I could get to the bottom of why I don’t like this project (oftentimes, writing my thoughts down helps to clarify them for me).
And, this method has
once again worked. Why I’m Not Looking Forward to This Project The reason I’m not looking forward to this copy is that it’s repetitive. All of the articles are describing different condo complexes on the beach. What’s worse, all the condos are in the same city on the same beach. There are only so many ways to describe the same beach sand, the same beach water and the same tourist attractions. The thing I like about writing is the learning. For example, last night I knocked out 5 articles for a client who runs an online news site. I wrote about the violence in Kenya, Edwards & Giuliani dropping out of the presidential race and what that means for the remaining candidates, Wesley Snipes’ tax evasion trial and the stimulus package and what it means for the average American. I learned a ton! As I’m a CNN addict anyway and had a keen interest in most of these topics (I could care less about Snipes’ tax evasion trial), these articles flowed. Even though I had to do some pretty in-depth research, I still didn’t mind because it gave breadth to the topical knowledge I already had from watching the news. So, back to my question in the title, what do you do when you just can’t “get going,” on a project? Here’s how I’m going to tackle this one. 4
Things to Do When You Just Can’t “Get Going” On a Project 2. Schedule “Look Forward to” Time: This piggybacks on the first point. I look forward to watching Judge Judy at 3pm, so I know I’ll be breaking for half an hour then. This will make it easier for me to stay focused. 3. Ancestral Link: One thing I like to do when I have to push myself to do something is think about my ancestors. I know this may seem a bit drastic, but being African American, I think about my enslaved ancestors and how often they didn't feel like doing something -- but had absolutely no choice in the matter. This centers me, reminds me of what I'm made of and how lucky I am to be in the position that I'm in. It's a powerful motivational, get-off-your-butt-and-quit-your-kvetching tool. 4. End Goal: Finally, I’m going to focus on the end goal – with earnings for this project, I have a bill in mind that I’m going to pay off. So, I’m imagining that check in my hand and how good it’s going to feel to get that bill paid off.
Other Options to
Consider When You Just Can’t “Get Going” On a Project To expand your business, you will have to outsource at some point. Again, I’ll discuss this in another article though. Decline: I could have declined this work. But, I enjoyed the first few projects I worked on for this client, then he “fell in love” with my writing and dumped a huge amount in my lap. This is always a good thing. But, some projects you only want to work on in small doses. This is taking the good with the bad though in the business. You don’t always get to pick and choose. And, this client pays upfront – he’s already paid me for the work (practically unheard of) and he has an unlimited number of other sites he wants me to work on. So this, ostensibly, is going to be an ongoing gig for years (client words). At any rate, now that I’ve procrastinated to the point where I can’t procrastinate anymore, it’s time to put my plan into action. But, it’s what I do best. In college, I was always a night-before-the-test crammer. I graduated with honors, so why mess with what ain’t broken. I’m off to cram (write) this gig right outta my inbox!
Sincerely,
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