Readers!
Is it mailbag time again? It is! If you have a question you’d like me to ask, drop a line here.
Question: How do you deal with procrastination? I love writing most of the time, but sometimes I don’t. If I’m working on a boring assignment, putting off outreach, or generally can’t get my mind to focus, I’m a master procrastinator. I’ll doomscroll at my desk and pretend I’m busy, but won’t actually do the work until the terror of an impending deadline hits. If I added up all the hours I spent at my desk not doing anything, I’d probably be horrified, especially as I have other stuff I’d prefer to be doing!
Answer: When I was in elementary and middle school, I took piano lessons at the convent behind my house. The nuns didn’t let us use the gate between our properties, so I had to walk allllllll the way around a very large suburban block to get there. It didn’t take that long — maybe 10 minutes — but I usually left my house early just in case something happened. I spent many afternoons sitting on the little bench in the convent vestibule, waiting for someone else’s lesson to finish, wondering what mysteries lie beyond the little space where they let children in. Then in college, I would go to my newspaper office early in the morning (for college students) and work on whatever assignments and papers I had coming up, no matter when they were due. If I got them done early, then that meant more free time down the line, and I wouldn’t be worried about rushing to finish something if a fun opportunity came up, like a “who wants to go to Disney?” day (which was feasible then when annual Florida resident passes were about $100 a year).
This is my long winded way of saying that procrastination has never been a major hurdle for me, though going from a regular job to freelancing required some adjustments. The biggest one is that while I have deadlines set by editors, I set my own deadlines. For example, I’ve been working to finish a bunch of assignments early since I have travel coming up. I have the editor due dates on my work calendar, and in my work spreadsheet, but I also made a list of everything due before I go, without any dates. It helped me visualize the work that needed to be then, and then it’s a challenge to cross them off, one by one. So while two stories from one client weren’t due until July 28, I started writing them as soon as I finished the last interview because it meant I could cross it off my list.
I also live or die by my daily to-do list. When I want to push myself to market, I add those tasks to the list. I did a sprint of follow ups in June, and I did so by writing “fu 1, fu 2, fu 3, fu 4, fu 5” as separate items on my to-do list (“fu” = “follow up”).
I don’t know how long you’ve been freelancing, letter writer, but over time, you’ll also get a sense when is your best time to do tasks. I like to write in the morning, so that’s how I set up my day, and when I’m writing, my phone is in another room. I also don’t have any notifications turned on, so I can’t be disturbed when I’m working. Then I’ll do interviews in the afternoon. Of course this isn’t set in stone, but I know when I work best, and try to arrange my day to it.
I also tend to be an anxious person, and think of the consequences if I don’t do something. So if I don’t find a source for X piece today, I may miss my deadline and lose client Y. If I don’t sit down and spend a half hour marketing, I may not find a new client who can replace someone whose budget seems shaky. When I looked at all the work I had due by the end of July, I asked myself “how are you going to feel if you leave this to the end of the month and you’re writing four pieces a day?” Not great. It got me to sit down and finish some assignments when I’d rather have taken a nap. I took the same approach when I gave up binge drinking. When I was tempted, I asked myself: How are you going to feel tomorrow? A little dose of fear of consequences isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
And then there’s the big wind at my back that I’m the only source of income in my household. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid, and if I don’t get paid…well. That’s an incredibly powerful motivator!
I’m not perfect, of course. I also doomscroll too much, and don’t pitch every story that I think I can sell, and zillion other things. But no one writer is going to be perfect. It’s impossible. But maybe making some adjustments can help.
Recent Bylines
“How to build an AI policy at your community bank,” Independent Banker
“Bridging Specialties program tackles NTM pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis,” CHEST Physician
“Opportunities and challenges for leveraging generative AI in the clinical laboratory,” Clinical Laboratory News
What I’m Reading
- Nightshade by Michael Connelly. When I saw a copy of this in Penn Station in May, I was surprised. He usually releases books in November (convenient for Dad Gift purposes). But Connelly is trying out a new detective, this one who is banished to work on Catalina Island after a dust up with a co-worker. Of course there’s conspiracy and murder and people are in danger. It’s Connelly’s thing. It’s OK. Not his best, but I wasn’t mad spending time with it.
What I’m Watching
- The Last Rifleman. In this sort of based on a true story movie, Pierce Brosnan plays a Northern Irish WW II veteran who breaks out of his retirement home to go to the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy landing. This absolutely wrecked me, and not necessarily in a bad way. I needed a healthy cry. It’s often a very funny movie (because it is a caper with a 93-year-old escapee), but also a deeply touching one about friendship, love and war. After I finished the movie, I immediately booked a day-trip to Normandy for when I’m in France. It was that moving. If you’re wondering why they hired Brosnan to play a 93-year-old, there are flashbacks to his character at his current age. He was so good that I forgot he was wearing age makeup. He’s wonderful in the part (and I’m glad he keeps making such interesting choices!)
Nail Polish of the Week
Coastal Sand-uary by OPI. This is my favorite summer nail polish color, and I saved it for when I’d have some time on the beach. It’s also the first bottle of polish I have almost entirely used. It’s that good!
Until next time,
Jen A. Miller (she/her)
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