Which Way to the Yelling Room?

Pressure provides an excellent motivator in almost all things.  You want to be pushed to do more, excel in what you can, and try your hardest in all you do.

At least until everything starts to pile up and you need to scream.

You know, to relieve tension and such.

Since college I have learned to not only work well under the pressure of a dozen things going on at once, but also learned how to thrive when it happens.  The upside was that even with getting sick (this was pre-transplant), long hours for school studies, and what I will term "wacky" scheduling from the management of my old retail job; I was getting things done.  I was working on my writing, doing the odd freelance job, and trying to keep up the cleanliness of my home.  The only downside, it seemed, was that things would come crashing down the minute I was hospitalized and too sick to work on projects.  Naturally, all the juggling balls don't juggle themselves, and the moment you step away everything falls apart.  However, nearly 5 years away from that liver transplant, and I realize that something else was happening during those years when I had so much going on.

I was getting hooked on having too much to do.

Odd thing to say, but I think it is possible to get addicted to having a full to the brim plate of ideas, projects, and chores to work on.  On the one hand, it keeps you from being lazy and you are forced to not waste time.  On the other hand, you never really have free time to relax, so you can get hyper stressed at the drop of a hat.  I have decided I would like the best of both worlds, please?

I need to have that pressure to keep me working, keep me on task, but not so much that I wish I had a third bedroom at home just so I could have protracted screaming sessions to alleviate stress.  What I want is knowing that I have things to do during the day, but at the end of the day have accomplished them for the most part.   Funny thing, this is more type A then type B.  I guess my type B tendecies come out in that I am always thinking of something new and exciting to do--but the type A side pops in and says it must be done by day's end or I've failed to get things done for the day.   I want to have a day where I don't feel rushed, but also don't feel like I could be a lump and just waste a few hours and not have it effect things.  (Barring vacations of course, because we all need time off.  I'm talking strictly the daily grind type stuff.)

So anywho, which way to the yelling room?  Because it would appear between a fantastic job opportunity (if I get it), personal projects with the Junk Journals, hoped for work from a revitalized CaptainKYSO, and my work on creative writing projects for my children's fantasy novels--I'm a little busy and have a full plate.

I guess last week was the right, wrong week to get sick.  But it's okay.  Because sometimes a bit of pressure, even extreme pressure, can be a good thing.

Easy Come, Easy Go: Writing Job Woes

Six hundred-plus words written, possibly for naught.  Even in the world of freelance writing gigs that sometimes is a hard blow.  I was so certain that this one job that I got through a freelance writing site was going to deliver a steady few bucks each week. I don't mean that in a cocky way, just that I was offered a trial spot, was given a prompt and told to write something short. So, I wrote a 600 word article, sent it off, and....a week later I still hadn't heard anything back.

So I did a bit of poking around, and by poking around I mean I went to the website that had said they were going to hire me, but wanted to test my skills first.  There on the site I find an article with a theme similar to the prompt I was given that went up two days after they said that they were likely to hire me.  Now, opportunities come and go in this business.  Sometimes sure things are not so sure, some times you land something semi-steady.  Sometimes you see stuff dry up.  There are feast times and famine times.  I guess I would call this "food snatched off the plate times" if I had to put a name to it.  Funny thing is it would not bother me as much if I had been told by the client that they went another direction--like, incredibly short copy.

I wrote 600 words and spent a few hours on my article.  The article they went with on the site was roughly 150 and is something I could punch out in roughly 30 minutes. 

That kinda stings.  

Funny enough I put in that many hours, sometimes more, when I do an article for another freelance site where I am not even trying to do a contract.  You basically follow a writing prompt, put the work out there, and hope the client likes it.  Sometimes you wait weeks (or months depending on your place in the que) to here back on whether they've bought the post, seen the post, or rejected the post.  Maybe it is a pressure thing.  There is no pressure when I write those blog posts.  They may take it, they may not.  My feelings are not hurt either way.  However, I guess it hurts a little when you actually contact the person and talk to them rather than do all business anonymously.  

On to other projects I suppose.

The Junk Journals go well.  I think I've reached the end of what I can actually pare down in my home (for the time being) and now I have to take these numerous notes, essays, and observances and see if they work as well as I hope for self-help book to post on Amazon.  Maybe it will go well, maybe it will not see the light of day as sometimes happens with creative projects.  Either way, things are what they are.  I have my hopes for other projects, but I don't always want to talk about those things in a public way.  You have to keep some stuff to yourself until it is ready.  Right?

Anywho.  I'm working on another writing tips/advice article for tomorrow, so I hope to "see" you again tomorrow.  Talk to you then!