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4 Responses
Great ideas Mindy.
In the Navy, whenever we were away from the cockpit for longer than a few weeks, Flight Ops would make sure we flew a “Back-in-the-saddle” flight as soon as we got back, to help us get find the groove, so to speak.
Same concept applies here too. Thanks again,
Thanks, Mark — I love the idea of a “Back-in-the-saddle” exercise! What do you think is a good one for web writing? I’ll have to chew on that … I can definitely see how beneficial it would be (I’m currently having trouble finding my groove now that I’m back home after vacation). All the best — thanks again for sharing.
Mindy,
You’ve got some great ideas and I’m sure many of us will find value in adopting many of them. Here are a few more to consider:
– I maintain a project calendar using iCal (I’m on a Mac). It makes it easy for my see my whole life at a glance! Before I bid/accept a project, I lay out on my project calendar the due date and work backwards blocking out writing time, editing time, research time, etc. for that project. When I do that, I see how this project fits in with all the other projects I have going on. It lets me know immediately whether or not I can meet the client’s deadline. Now I can see my options: lengthen my work day, delegate tasks, negotiate this and perhaps other deadlines, etc. I’ve done this for years, both working in corporate and in my own company. Believe me, it has saved me from my own ambition far more than any other single thing I have done!
– I am starting to use basecamp.com. I used to use it back when I worked in corporate. It was very useful for managing specific projects in a “controlled” space. This way copy and design revisions are managed in basecamp and so it’s easy to find all the source material and revisions related to that project in one location — for both the client and me — at any time.
Thanks again for your suggestions and good luck!
Mary
Excellent, thank you Mary! I think you coined the best phrase there where you wrote about how your planning saved you “from your own ambition.” That really hits the nail on the head for a lot of us. Planning out a project by working backwards before accepting it is also a new one for me — yet it makes so much sense! Thank you. I’ll absolutely give that a test drive, along with basecamp.com — I haven’t heard of it, but it certainly sounds useful.
Thanks again for sharing!