Comments on: How to Be on Time (And What to Do if You Can’t)

By: Picking up the pieces after an Epic Fail | The Unjob

Picking up the pieces after an Epic Fail | The Unjob — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:33:45 +0000

[...] have a handful of minutes before your client needs a final, non-revisable version of your work. You try to squeeze in as much as you could before your clock’s hands march upon that fateful position on its face. [...]

By: Tiera

Tiera — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:36:55 +0000

Giving myself a deadline before the real deadline has always proven helpful for me. I also put alarms on my calendar program to remind me. Another thing that helps is scheduling work periods on my calendar for specific projects/tasks. I get so busy sometimes that it can be overwhelming. By being specific in my work schedule, I can make sure assignments are getting done and that I’m giving myself enough time for research, interviews, writing, revising, etc.

By: Meryl K. Evans

Meryl K. Evans — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:49:23 +0000

I had three weeks to write a how to book for a software product (that alone helped). My dad had a stroke in the middle of it. I knew not to ask for an extension when the author of one of the other books in the series was in the hospital herself and couldn’t get an extension. Somehow, I pulled through despite my frequent one-hour drives to see my Dad.

I took the laptop with me, but I couldn’t concentrate — all of it had to be done in my home office. I still can’t figure out how I pulled it off.

By: quinn

quinn — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:57:52 +0000

I’ve never missed a deadline…until this month. I thought the deadline was 15 Nov, and – guess what? – it was the 1st. I realized it on the 11th (which I had set aside for a leisurely “polish” of the copy because, after all, I was SO early!

When I pulled up the spreadsheet to record the completed assignment, the real deadline jumped out at me like very bad news. I phoned the editor immediately and apologized – there may have been some groveling – but to my surprise and relief he was not upset. why not? (Okay, here comes my Possibly Useful Tip.)

since this article was assigned many months ago, I sent a brief email to touch base two weeks before (I thought) it was due, just saying “hello, how are you…just a reminder that article x and snaps will be on their way shortly.”

Ironically, I sent this email on the day of the REAL deadline. When I phoned the editor (ten days later! – it still makes me cringe) he said, “I thought of you yesterday, but since you had sent the email earlier, I wasn’t worried.”

I lucked out, because I’ve written for this pub before and the editor liked my work. But if I didn’t have the habit of touching base with an editor two weeks before a long-assigned piece is due, this could have been a very bad situation. Or “an even worse” situation.