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Topic: Freelancers: How do you kick-start your motivation
| Author | Message |
| Venus | Posted – 10/3/2006 6:40:00 PM | show profile I feel like at least once every three weeks I have a day where I can't bring myself to do a lick of work. I feel so bored and apathetic, there's no way I can get anything done. Usually it follows the day after I turn in a big story. Can anyone relate? Do I need to stop fighting it and just blow the day off? Or is there a way I can jump start my motivation during these slumps? |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/3/2006 6:58:13 PM | show profile Everyone needs some time off. Maybe the key isn't to think in terms of M-F, 9 to 5. After you finish a big story, make the next two days your weekend. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/3/2006 6:58:18 PM | show profile Everyone needs some time off. Maybe the key isn't to think in terms of M-F, 9 to 5. After you finish a big story, make the next two days your weekend. |
| sd2la | Posted – 10/3/2006 10:48:54 PM | show profile Fear is always a good motivational factor for me. But some writers work manically, and some work a bit more methodically. I think ultimately you have to find a way to discipline yourself while allowing yourself the occasional slack-off day. My motivation is paying my Manhattan rent. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 10/3/2006 11:10:46 PM | show profile | email poster After a pile of work, I need to recharge. I think that's because I don't just put in 9-5 days. Recently after cranking out a big magazine article, a small magazine article, four newspaper articles -- and a fairly large speaking engagement, plus editing 8 articles -- in the space of a week (not counting research) I took a two-day hiatus. Had to. I'd been running on adrenaline. Pace yourself. |
| pleiades | Posted – 10/3/2006 11:20:02 PM | show profile At first I thought my occasional "in a funk days" were because I was working from home. But even when I worked in an office every once in awhile there would be days where I simply couldn't get work done. My mom is a strong believer in mental health days. I think mental health days are key in any occupation. So yes, I can most definitely relate. As a fairly new part-time freelancer I find the days I'm without assignments to be most frustrating. I strive for pressure days, deadline days, days I have a million things to do. Without due dates and assigned work, and a day full of querying and updating my website ahead of me, I crumble. I've been known to crawl into bed at 3pm on these days. Or job search. I would say take a mental health day and, if you can't shake it, consider cleaning out your files, updating your records, or writing some letters to friends. And don't be so hard on yourself. I freelance from home part of the week and then work in an office (which is technically a freelance gig) the other part of the week. On days I'm in the office I'm often doing freelance work in the evenings and there's always work to be done on the weekend. You're probably working way more than 40 hours a week, simply because you're self-employed. So give yourself a break. I'm sure you deserved it. It's good to hear I'm not the only one, though. I have very low self-esteem on my "in a funk" days. |
| The Squeaking Noodle | Posted – 10/4/2006 9:15:20 AM | show profile | email poster http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com/2006/09/writing-tips-by-chuck-palahniuk.html ------ http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com |
| jcpatterson | Posted – 10/4/2006 10:45:22 AM | show profile I agree with dribble. You should espect to feel this way following a big story and, unless there is another deadline hot on its heels, allow yourself a low productivity day. If you just can't stand the thought of not being in your office on, say, a Wednesday morning, make that day a day you catch up on some administrative chores. Catch up on your filing (or come do mine!), update your contact database, assess your income vis-a-vis goals and prior performance, surf the web looking for new market, or write something just for your own entertainment without deadline pressure--then try to sell it when it is finished. |
| Venus | Posted – 10/4/2006 10:47:08 AM | show profile Thanks, everyone. Pleiades, I can relate to everything you said, and it's good to know I'm not alone. It's true, when I worked full-time at a magazine, I had the same slump after ship week. Only I didn't feel as guilty about it because everyone in the office was slacking off. Being self-employed, I'm much harder on myself than any other boss has ever been toward me. Sounds like we should all give ourselves a break. |
| The Squeaking Noodle | Posted – 10/7/2006 10:45:50 AM | show profile | email poster A couple of tips, hope they might be handy, plus links to a piece in the New Yorker about being blocked. Cheers.. http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com/2006/10/writing-what-happens-when-you-just.html ------ http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com |
| Stressed | Posted – 10/7/2006 12:43:30 PM | show profile I find the threat of iminent poverty to be a great motivational force! ;) |
| writesonwater | Posted – 10/7/2006 1:55:49 PM | show profile | email poster THreat of poverty does work like a charm, every month! Then there's anger -- an "I'll show THEM!" for every rejection, three more queries and a determination to blow the socks off the clever editor who DOES bite and show up the loser who DIDN'T. That said, I never let them think I believe them a loser ... don't want to burn those bridges, however tenuous ... There is something satisfying when a story one rejected becomes a hit for someone else. And for me. |
| FeaturesGal | Posted – 10/7/2006 2:17:05 PM | show profile This has happened to me a bunch. I work from home with two small children (2 years and 8 months) so trying to get work done while taking care of them can make me CRAZY. Usually, after I finish a big story, I take a bit of a break until I feel I can put my best back into it. |
| The Squeaking Noodle | Posted – 10/10/2006 12:11:09 PM | show profile | email poster I think we all get days where it's like chewing on glass. Hope the following is useful if not print out and wrap glassware in it. Cheers! SN http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com/2006/10/writing-what-happens-when-you-just.html ------ http://squeakingnoodle.blogspot.com |
| Little Fingers | Posted – 10/10/2006 10:15:58 PM | show profile Me too I have a similar pattern. As with most freelancers, my work comes in chunky clumps, not a steady drip. So after a couple of cram days or a few weeks of big projects, I find myself unable to do anything but watch TV, play in the garden, and generally futz around the house. But as someone else pointed out in this thread, the same thing happened when I had a full-time job. I call it burnout. And frankly, I think it's more than okay--it's healthy. Sometimes I use these days to do things like go through mail, update my websites, email old contacts, and take care of other little but important tasks. But if I just don't feel like it, I don't beat myself up about it. I just take some well-earned time off and think about my next step! |
| Little Fingers | Posted – 10/10/2006 10:16:17 PM | show profile Me too I have a similar pattern. As with most freelancers, my work comes in chunky clumps, not a steady drip. So after a couple of cram days or a few weeks of big projects, I find myself unable to do anything but watch TV, play in the garden, and generally futz around the house. But as someone else pointed out in this thread, the same thing happened when I had a full-time job. I call it burnout. And frankly, I think it's more than okay--it's healthy. Sometimes I use these days to do things like go through mail, update my websites, email old contacts, and take care of other little but important tasks. But if I just don't feel like it, I don't beat myself up about it. I just take some well-earned time off and think about my next step! |
