Scheduling Smarter: Editing on a Different Day

One of the greatest challenges for me as a freelance writer is keeping a schedule. The nature of freelancing tends to be feast or famine to begin with, but I often schedule new projects first thing in the morning, after I've had my second cup of coffee. This is probably not a wise decision, as the caffeine rush gives me delusions of grandeur and I think I am Super Writer early in the morning. By the time the caffeine wears off and the midnight hours tick by as I struggle to complete that day's schedule, I find myself vowing that next week, I not schedule myself so heavily.

One of the best reasons for not over-scheduling is editing a project the same day you write it often results in mistakes slipping through. After spending a few hours performing research and typing up your ideas, you are often too close to the material to be objective about your editing process. Once you walk away from the subject for a few days, you are more likely to catch mistakes that would otherwise go unnoticed.

This is especially true when you push to complete a project. If you are feeling under the weather or have not slept well the previous night the quality of your writing is sure to suffer. By scheduling editing at a later date, the overall condition of your work will greatly improve.