Freelance Writers: How to Beat Exhaustion when Under Deadline

All freelance writers have at one time or another come under the deadline crunch. It's after three o'clock in the morning, and you're still hammering away at the computer keyboard, trying to finish up a project for a client before dawn. If you don't complete it, you won't get paid, and then how will the rent be covered this month?

Writing is a freelance writer's livelihood, and the only way you make money is if you write for someone with a checkbook. Often, freelance writing means working under deadlines - some reasonable, others not. But your writing will suffer if you're working just to keep your eyes open while your eyes scan back and forth across the computer screen, so how do you beat exhaustion when under deadline?

Think About Your Workload When Scheduling Clients

As a preventative measure, think about your other projects when you're contacted about a new one. If you know you'll have to burn the midnight oil to accomplish everything on your plate, don't be afraid to tell clients that their project will have to wait. You're only human, which must of your clients will understand, so don't allow yourself to get overloaded. See my article on How to Say No to Clients.

Beat Exhaustion When Under Deadline: Work in Spurts

Sometimes, the exhaustion that sets in under deadline isn't a product of working too much, but working for increasingly long periods of time. Staring at a computer screen for six hours straight isn't good for your eyes or your back, so take thirty-minute breaks every couple of hours. Get a cup of coffee, take a walk or just veg in front of the TV for a while to clear your mind and refocus your eyes. And when you're on break, don't think about the looming deadline.

Beat Exhaustion When Under Deadline: Switch Out Projects