The Deadline Dance

Have you ever blown past a deadline? I have...but never one for a client.  It's always one I've made for myself. I have missed a very important self-imposed deadline. I committed to doing a book review on the first of every month. That is one of the biggest challenges I find being a freelance writer. Sure, it’s easy to make deadlines that are set by paying clients, but keeping a commitment to yourself is much more difficult. But, I remind myself, now I have not only let me down but my friends and followers as well. And that’s tough to take. So…my apologies! I can only offer to you that, where the book reviews are concerned, I will only do a review on a book I have read from cover to cover so my review is honest and complete. On the first of this month, I looked at my night table and the desk in my office and there were many books marked at various pages but not one was close enough to being finished to make me comfortable enough to do a formal “review.”

A Mini Review
There is one that I have started into that I will at least give a nod to and then do a proper review another time. The title is Words that Work – It’s not What you say, it’s What People Hear by Dr. Frank Luntz. I am really enjoying his irreverent tone and the stories he tells of his time writing for very high profile politicians and Fortune 500 companies. They really make you stop and say hmmmm. Even as I was just finishing the first chapter I knew that this would be one of those books I won’t loan out or give away. I started underlining on page two of the introduction. But, I will wait until I’ve finished to give you my final impressions.

Deadline Doesn’t have to be a Dirty Word
So, I’m now beating myself up over missing my May 1 book review deadline and because I haven’t blogged since April 24th. That was also around the time that I finally learned how to set up an email subscription to my blog. I apologise to anyone who signed up last month and has heard not a word from me since. My friend Susan the Coach took up Wordpress’ “blog a day” challenge and has been having a ball so she has re-energized me to get back on track (she is a coach, afterall, so her blogs even help procrastinators stick to deadlines among other great work/life advice).

I’ll be scheduling my blogging from now on and will treat is just as seriously as my client projects because I do believe that you are equally as important. I won’t be doing it every day but will be scheduling it for at least once a week.

My new mantra
Embrace the Deadline…Embrace the Deadline!