Making It Happen Under Impossible Deadlines
What do you do when your boss or client hands you a great project but with a daunting deadline? If you're a freelancer, you may not want to turn down good paying work. If you're a staff writer at an agency or company, you may not have any choice. The job has to get done. And it's on your desk.
First Step: Negotiate
When you are assigned a project deadline, ask why that particular date is so important. There may be a very good reason for a given deadline. Perhaps a trade show date is looming and the salespeople need a new brochure to hand out to visitors. Or a seminar date is coming up and the direct-mail invitations have to be in the mail by a certain date.
However, some deadlines are more arbitrary. Busy managers understandably want to get completed work in from their employees or freelancers as early as possible. In this case, you can often negotiate a more realistic deadline that fits both your schedule and your boss's or client's. For example, you could say: “This deadline is very tight for me. What would happen if I delivered the copy to you by next Wednesday at noon?”
Second Step: Do It
Sometimes a deadline is a deadline and you just can't negotiate. What do you do? Usually your only choice is to just do it. Here are some tips that will make it easier.
Clear your schedule. Tell your employer that you will have to put all else aside to get the job done.
If possible, find a private office you can use, or ask if you can work from home so there are no further distractions.
Write a draft as quickly as possible, no matter how terrible it is. Then clean it up. Revise it a few times. And polish.
If it's a long project, divide the task up into smaller chunks. It will seem less intimidating.
Get help. Is there another writer or editor who can assist you?
Deliver the best copy you can on the deadline. Surprisingly, the work writers do under pressure, even when the timelines seem impossible and a detriment to quality, is often very good.
