First off can you believe there is only this monday and next and then we will be in June? Time is just whirling around us isn’t it?

My mom tells me I work best under pressure. That when the time comes closer to a deadline the better at work that I get. Well this week I hope she is right!

7 days from today the movers will arrive to pack up my household belongings. That same day I have a writing deadline. Talk about crunch time!

Do deadlines motivate you? I am not the procrastinator I know some of my family members are, but I do have to admit I do have a tendency to put things off.

That being said some of my best work has come about when I know that I just have to get it done. What is it that motivates so many of us to do our best work under the gun?

Recently chatting to a friend online I have told her that after this move I will not be so disorganized in my life and business once I move. And I really do have this as a goal. To space out both my housework and my writing work to avoid this “last minute surge of activity”. How will this affect my creativity? Will it affect my creativity?

These are all things that I am going to be looking into, and more than writing about as I face this issue in the future. Until then, how does working under pressure motivate you? or do you not work well under pressure???

Have a great week! And stay motivated!

I was approached by a potential client. Now let me start by saying this is nothing against this person. I am sure they mean well. They wanted to know if I was available to write for them. I replied that I was and to let me know what kind of project they would like.

When they emailed me back I was floored. I write for what I think is a reasonable rate. I offer discounts for clients that use my services on a regular basis and have been known to offer a discount to those who need it. That being said the rate this client offered was phenomenally low. That is ok. I understand that everyone has a budget and there may have been things that I have no idea of why they wanted to offer such a low fee.

But …

What amazed me was the fact they said they had other ghost writer on the project at this price already. This amazes me.

I put a lot into my writing and I value my time. That people are willing to write for pennies saddens me. I am sure that these other writers put just as much into their writing as I do, but are not putting the value on their work and their time.

When writing online I have learned a lot. The first thing I learned is that if you don’t value what you do, others aren’t going to either. Be proud of what you do. Write with confidence and command a fair price. People may want to bargain with you for a price, but you can usually work out a deal. Maybe take a dollar less but have the client commit to a few more articles. There are ways to work with a client about price, but don’t accept less than what you are worth.

Another thing I have learned is there are a ton of people out there that will undervalue your work. I do a lot of writing for free. Well not really free. I write for directories and my own sites. This pays off by getting my name out there. So I am working for myself really, so I am not working for free. Work for yourself, but don’t work for peanuts!

Value your time and your talent! Your worth it! Don’t be afraid to say no. Don’t be afraid to stick to your guns and work with a client to work out a deal that is fair to both of you!

Stepping down off my soap box to start writing now. This really has me inspired to write a few articles this morning about this very topic! Stay tuned!!!!

Seems I am spending a lot of time catching up lately. This move has me totally frazzled. Is that a word? I went into this with the determination of being very organized, and feel now that is coming apart at the seams. Oh well, soon it will all be over. One month from now we will be receiving our household goods on the other side of this move. That sounds so promising doesn’t it?

But I really need to become more organized. The more I sort through all this “stuff” the more I realize just how bad it has become since I moved into this house. I am going to do some serious de-junking and organizing once I get to my new home. I don’t want to live in this chaos any longer!

The first thing I am going to do is get my business organized. I have a friend who is has kindly volunteered to help me make a template to help me keep this better. Thanks Alyssa at Organized Life by Design. This will take a bit to get organized, but I want to do it now, before I take on any more projects. I want a nice work space set up in our new home. I need a priority list of task that need to be done each day, each week and each month. This will really help me run smoothly and help out with the income!

Then I want the house to be more organized. I am going to be a tyrant on getting rid of things. The first thing I am going to do is find the goodwill and the library! Donate and recycle. That is my motto! I have so much stuff, just sitting around. Things that I will probably never use again. Kept on the premises of “some day” well… someday may or may not come around, so in the mean time they are going! I really want my kids to learn this as well.

We are going to start this chapter in our lives with a new attitude and outlook on life. We are going very green as well. So stay tuned for our great adventure!