One simple bit of advice

Nov 5, 2015 by jgordon@unitedmediaguild.org

Writing for the Freelancers Union, Kate Shea offered simple but powerful advice: Write everything down!

Whether you use your smart phone or your tablet or your laptop or just an old-fashioned notebook, write down all the details of every assignment you get and keep them organized.

She wrote:

If you’re anything like me, you may postpone writing details down because you are a) lazyish – nnngh, do I have to TYPE that with my FINGERS – and b) vaguely vain about your own ability to remember things correctly.

Even if you have a shining, sterling, steel trap memory, rivaled only by fictional detectives’ – trust me, your enviable recall will eventually be defeated by balancing multiple clients.

If Encyclopedia Brown were a multi-tasking freelancer, even he would miss a deadline, if he didn’t Write. It. Down.

If you’re technology-averse, don’t bother with gadgets.

Carry around a notebook or agenda, but carry it around EVERYWHERE. Don’t be forced to fruitlessly fish around in your wallet for the receipt you wrote that deadline down upon.

For more on this topic, check out her posting on this topic.