Have Your Work Scheduled and Prepared in Advance

Today I wish I had been more disciplined and had the material for this post prepared in advanced. Or at least planned. At the very least had the germ of an idea.

But no. I’m sat here on New Years Eve with no atomic essay, nothing planned and honestly not an idea as to what I’m going to write about….

Then I thought: I’ll write about having nothing to write about!

I know that the serious creators have everything planned out way in advance, they would have had this essay written in October. Maybe not that organised, but you get the idea. They batch record their episodes or have videos stacked up in reserve. Books written and edited in March to be published in September.

Now, I’m not playing in that league, but this is something I really need to get a handle on for when I’m working with more serious consequences. Here’s why it’s so important.

This approach can avert some very serious problems, such as:

Unnecessary Stress – The stress levels just creep up as the deadline for posting approach and you are still staring at a blank page.

Loss of quality – Lets be honest when you're rushing, shattered, or not got a clue what you’re going to write about, the quality is bound to suffer. Look no further than this post!

Family Disharmony – Often overlooked but the creative can be so consumed with the need to meet the deadline that the most important people in their lives are not quite ignored but put aside, even if not physically at least mentally. If this is a regular occurrence due to not having your next releases batched, this is bound to lead to some tension in the family.

Lack of Flexibility – A last minute invite to dinner with friends, emergency with the kids, or just fancy kicking back and watching the game. Fine as long as you have your work in order. Not so easy when you have the work breathing down your neck. Having some wiggle room is not only a sensible idea but I would argue its necessary to function successfully and happily. After all, what’s living if you have no control of that life? Having the room to be spontaneous is a must. Especially for the creative.