On Friday I blogged about procrastinating. I was dragging my feet about making a couple of phone calls, and had sent off emails in the hopes of arranging email interviews instead.

As it turned out, my email interview attempts did work out, although I didn't actually get a hold of someone from one of the organizations until the evening of the deadline. I communicated the delay to my editor, though, and he was okay with it. He knew about the hassles with my computer last week, and was perfectly understanding about the setback that had caused!

Despite the slightly missed deadline, the article was much more enjoyable to write thanks to my email interviews. I didn't have to play phone tag, or fret about the stupid way I ask questions when I'm nervous, or transcribe an interview (and cringe every time I heard my own voice). It's so much easier to exchange a few emails and just copy-and-paste the quotes I want into my article!

No matter what negative things anyone has to say about procrastination, the truth is that it does sometimes pay off. And some people — like me — actually work better when they're down to the wire!

Labels: procrastinating

These are my biggest weaknesses when I'm trying to get work done -- or procrastination excuses, as the case may be. What are yours?

1) Michael: Michael is my number one biggest weakness when it comes to working. If he's around, I find it really difficult -- if not impossible -- to get anything done.

2) Errands and chores: You know, those little piddly things that eat up your time when you're not paying attention. Somehow telling myself, "Well, it had to be done," is a consolation even when I know I'm deliberately putting something off. When I'm not trying to procrastinate, I try to schedule errands and chores so that I get them all done in one block; otherwise, the five minutes here and five minutes there keeps me distracted from writing.

3) Reading: I love to read; when I was little, the teachers complained that they couldn't get me to stop reading, even in class. I don't read instead of working often, but every once in a while I get this book that's impossible to put down...so I don't even try. It's even worse if it's for a book review, because then I feel vindicated for reading instead of working.

4) Blogging: As I think I've mentioned, my blogs pull in the majority of my website traffic... And now, thanks to AdSense, I'm actually earning a little money from them, too. When I blog I feel sort of like I am working, so I often find myself blogging when I'm putting off something I don't want to do.

5) Nice weather: I may be a Colorado girl, but that doesn't mean I'm the outdoorsy type. However, nice weather is still a detriment to my work schedule, especially on the weekend... And especially since I can take the T-tops down on my car when I drive in nice weather.

Labels: freelancing, procrastinating