The Art of Pulling an All-Nighter

Let me just start off by saying that I don't recommend missing sleep to meet a deadline. You should plan your schedule accordingly to avoid all-nighters at all costs. That said, I stayed up all night to finish a client's project recently. It's been several months since I've had to do this, but I've been positively slammed with work and sick children. In the end there was no other choice. I could have avoided it had I correctly estimated the time it would take me to complete a client's project. But since I abhor missing deadlines (which I translate to mean breaking my word), I made a choice and sacrificed my precious sleep instead. I'm always fearful of screwing with my sleep patterns because I can easily trip the old insomnia switch.

If you happen to be a new freelance writer learning to estimate the time it takes to finish projects, you could find yourself pulling an all-nighter to meet a deadline at some point. I hope I'm wrong, but if you are ever in that situation, here are a few tips to help get you through the night:

Prepare yourself mentally

That's half the battle won. If you prepare your mind for the fact that you will not be sleeping anytime soon it's a lot easier to manage.

Have a plan

If you don't have a plan, exhaustion could tempt you to just give up and go to bed. Execute a plan for how much writing you will do, when you'll take breaks to stand up and move around and make fresh pots of coffee. Which brings me to my next tip…

Drink lots of coffee

Enough said.

Take frequent bathroom breaks

Enough said.

Give your brain and body a break

Stand up periodically, stretch and move around. I worked all night in a desk chair that is the complete opposite of ergonomic comfort. I need a deep tissue massage in the worst way. But I digress…

Don't crank up the heat

You might wake up on deadline day with keyboard prints across your forehead and an incomplete project.

Vow never to pull another all-nighter again

Repeat it like a mantra throughout the night. By convincing yourself that you'll never have to do it again, you'll be even more determined to finish the work.

If you have ever had the displeasure of pulling an all-nighter to meet a deadline, or have somehow managed to avoid them, please share your tips and advice.

Client Issues are a Freelance Writing Reality

I want to thank Lori Widmer for calling attention to a very puzzling issue I've been having with a recent client. You can read here to get the full story. Lori is a writer I respect very much. She offers very valuable freelance writing advice and insight for new and existing freelance writers that can help them to build a thriving business.

Well, Lori gave me some very straightforward advice, and I needed it. In taking her advice, I prepared to go on as usual with the business of consistently marketing and handling other projects. Then yesterday, the client in question called me up to discuss a brand new project.

I couldn't resist. I just flat out asked him what was going on with the "big" project he'd made a deposit payment on last month. He explained that his company had placed the project temporarily on hold while they worked on streamlining some internal operations. His business has recently experienced some growing pains lately, and they really needed to take care of some crucial issues before giving the "big" project the time and attention it requires. He assured me the "big" project is still a go.

So Lori, I told him that I was still committed to working on the project, but I couldn't guarantee that when he gives the thumbs up to get started I'll be available to jump on it right away. Thankfully the client said he completely understood.

So the mystery of the prepaid project that never arrived has officially been solved. The moral of this story is: Communicate with your clients right away when issues come up. Physician heal thyself…;-)