I am a deadline-oriented person. I actually love deadlines and thrive on them, which is a good thing because deadlines play a huge role in my field. Lately, I’ve had to deal with some deadlines, but found myself not liking one of the deadlines.
I am still doing that biweekly layout/design work for that auto magazine, the one I cried about in my post 3 weeks ago. My second run with it went much smoother, mostly because my friend worked some magic on the computer. She said there were all these settings wrong on the computer that created my endless problems; settings that a normal person would not have figured out. Phew. I’m glad she fixed it all, but I was shaking my fist at the universe for putting me through that.
In any case, as the week went along, I found I really enjoyed the layout/design part. I could do this! Yeah! But then the end of the week approached and I felt that high anxiety again. You see, there are 60 pages in the magazine. The sales people give me the materials/information I need to lay out those pages a little each day. But what happens is that most of it comes in on Thursday. And usually around the 4 o’clock hour. That means I have to layout about 30 pages Thursday evening, have them ready to be proofed by 9am Friday morning and put the finishing touches on the magazine to be uploaded and delivered to the printer by noon. Obviously, it’s doable. My friend had a full-time job and did it before me (for 3 years). And I work well under pressure, but I really felt the pressure last week. It could be because J’s sisters were in town and we were trying to fit in a Carbon Leaf concert Thursday night. What ended up happening is I did work until 5pm, we went to the concert and got home at midnight and I worked until 3am. Then I got up at 6am, finished the rest, got everything proofed by 10am (ONLY ONE MISTAKE in 60 pages … go me!!).
I guess what I’m saying is that I just don’t think I am fit for that kind of deadline. As my dad said to me, “not everyone can be a police officer.” Sometimes you just have to accept that you can’t do everything. And maybe it will get easier as I work through the pages faster, but I’m still hesitant. I’ve only committed through Oct. 1, so we shall see. Week 3 of the magazine is coming this week … if you want to hear me freak out, call me Thursday. On second thought, don’t really call me.
On the other hand, I had a different deadline this week that I handled no problem. My editor from the NH magazine called me and asked if J and I could stay at a B&B Wednesday evening (for FREE), then I could write the story about it and get it to her Friday. We did and I did. No anxiety. I may get writer’s block here and there, but for the most part, smooth sailing. I will blog about our awesome B&B stay in another post because it does deserve its own.
Funny, I have NEVER heard Dad say that to me!
Ooh B&B stay! sweet!
Deadlines like that would bother me, too! I had a pretty sweet deal at my last job with not much working overtime unless I was traveling so it was get the hell outta Dodge by 4:30pm no matter what! Now I'm having trouble coming to terms that I won't get that kind of deal with a new job.