Question for freelancers

[rNOW]

How do you guys manage setting up deadlines for yourself and sticking to them? 

What is the system you follow to handle very stressful deadlines and how do you ward other people off from putting up inhumane deadlines for you?

Given that you're also into self realization work, meditation and personal development, do you find it all takes a back seat whenever a new urgent deadline pops up? How do you navigate this balance?

And lastly, how do you enforce your boundaries so other people's agendas do not ruin your plans? 

Thanks a lot! 

[Yarco]

Meeting deadlines - Just willpower, assuming you have set a reasonable amount of work for yourself. I find waking up early is best for me. My willpower and energy peaks when I wake up and steadily goes down throughout the day. By noon I'm pretty much useless. So if I have a lot to do, I wake up at 6 and can have a full work day done by lunch time. You might be the opposite and be a night owl who does best sleeping in and working after dinner.

I've found the one huge difference between super productive and successful people, and unsuccessful people, is normally just willpower. Whether it's work, diet/exercise, or whatever else. Willpower is a muscle that you just have to train. I'm not perfect, I fall off the wagon and junk food and play video games for 1-2 months straight sometimes. It's just catching yourself and getting back on track. After a while the time between falling off track will become longer and longer, and you'll realize that it's less painful to just stick with it, instead of facing the resistance of getting back on when you fall off.

If you procrastinate, you have to live with that nagging guilty feeling in the back of your head. You can't even enjoy slacking off. So it's better to just push yourself and get everything done as quickly as possible. Then you can truly enjoy your free time, guilt-free.

Inhumane deadlines / enforcing boundaries - If someone gives you deadlines that you describe as inhumane, you shouldn't work for them lol. When taking on a job, let them know what your turnaround times are along with rates, and any other expectations. Have a separate "rush rate" for jobs that they insist on being done on short notice. Make it at least 1.5x to discourage them from using it. Just don't respond to emails/calls on evenings or weekends. Try to train them, and if they won't learn, you just have to let them go and find clients who aren't shit, unless you absolutely depend on them.

Finding balance - Set time aside each day or week for meditation/personal development and guard that time fiercely. Again doing it first thing of the day is probably best.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Yarco

[h inandout]

I agree with morning hours being the most productive hours, and should be used for the most important "hard" work.

Other than that, if someone offers me good money for an appointment, and my bank account needs it, darn straight I will prioritize that!  However, if I notice a pattern of certain types of appointments or certain times of day that don't work for me and cause me such anxiety that I start making mistakes and lose track of my healthy habits and the quality of my work goes down, then was it really worth the amount of money I gained?  Sometimes it is, more often it isn't.

[Zigzag Idiot]

On 6/4/2020 at 3:44 PM, Yarco said:

If you procrastinate, you have to live with that nagging guilty feeling in the back of your head. You can't even enjoy slacking off. So it's better to just push yourself and get everything done as quickly as possible. Then you can truly enjoy your free time, guilt-free.

This is in the area of my reply. Please excuse the gnostic style throw down.  The awakening of Conscience is a topic on my plate lately. Conscience- The intelligence of the universe which is connected to one's inner truth.

Aquired Conscience from childhood conditioning is different from Culture to culture and can't really be relied upon.

Awakened Conscience is the same in everyone. The language of the smile,,,,

Awakened Conscience knows and informs one immediately. Detects bullshit, establishes proper boundries,, etc.,

The I Ching is helping me to cultivate this connection with inner truth. Work in progress.

Very abstract reply, I realize. Hope it helps,,,