I have a big task ahead of me today...

July 26, 2013 8:36 AM

I have a new client, and I have to deliver a project by the end of the day. Doing the work I love is a dream come true, but in all honesty, I feel I will vomit out of nervousness. Any advice for someone beginning a challenging new career?
posted by Cybria to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Write out all the steps you have to do to get the project done, in as small breakdown as possible 1) Set up Photoshop workspace 2) select colors ( I mean whatever, I don't know what you do)

Then get to it, ticking off as you go.
posted by sweetkid at 8:41 AM on July 26, 2013 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: That's very doable, thank you. :) Oh and I'm a writer btw. Forgot to include that.
posted by Cybria at 8:43 AM on July 26, 2013

In the broad scheme of things, your career does not depend on the success of a single one day project. Take a deep breath and get down to it. If at any point you realize that you cannot realistically be done today, immediately contact your client and tell him/her the new schedule. Know that if someone needs some work done, it is always better to stick with the person who is upfront about being off schedule than to fire you and try to find someone else.
posted by rocketpup at 8:44 AM on July 26, 2013 [8 favorites]

I say this in all sincerity: get off the Internet. Set up LeechBlock or do whatever you have to do, but set yourself up to be able to focus.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 8:46 AM on July 26, 2013 [5 favorites]

You may know this proofreading trick already, but when you do your final read-through, read it out loud--not just out loud in your head, but literally reciting it. It'll force you to slow down despite your nerves and really hear the flow of your prose.
posted by drlith at 8:50 AM on July 26, 2013 [3 favorites]

I feel for you--and find that the nerves hit when I'm not actively working on something but am instead taking a moment (or longer) to mull over my situation. So if you stop working and find yourself getting sucked in by anxious thoughts, do whatever it takes to reorient yourself back to the task at hand and get working on it again.
posted by whistle pig at 11:17 AM on July 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Break it down to simple steps.

Schedule out your day, assigning start and end times to each step.

Tell yourself, "I am going to fuck up. When I fuck up, I will learn everything I can from it."
posted by latkes at 5:31 PM on July 26, 2013