Get Paid to Write Articles: Clean up after yourself

Things can get messy when you get paid to write articles.

THIS IS ARTICLE 5 OF 10 IN THE “WRITE ABOUT MULCH” CHALLENGE.

Get paid to write articles – tidy up at the end of the day

Oh, if only every writing project were self-contained in a nice little box. You’d be able to plan, research, write, deliver, and invoice all in one sitting. No need to use brain cells to remember where you were in the process. Nothing would ever slip your mind or slide through the cracks in your business systems. You’d end each day with a clean inbox, Windexing your desk, and putting on your “other” sneakers, like Mr. Rogers.

Alas, it’s not like that.

It’s more like dealing with a huge pile of mulch that takes two adults more than a day to dispatch. At the end of one day, it’s so tempting to just leave everything where you drop it. Tools. Piles of stray mulch. Pulled weeds. Water bottles.

You’re tired. You’ve put in a solid day of work. You just want to end the day. Seems so tempting to leave it all there, figuring you’ll do a big clean-up when you’re completely finished.

Don’t do it!

Fact: We always think we’ll remember that last idea, that great headline, where we left off, etc.

Fact: We don’t!

Spend the last bit of your work time cleaning up shop. Save your work (please tell me you do this automatically anyhow!). Cross your “dones” off your “to do” list. Set your priorities for the next day.

I found a great new project management system I’m shifting to – even better for me than the built-in sticky note system that came with Windows. It’s called Trello. It’s free – forever, and no matter how many projects or users (if you have a team) you add. It allows you to work with “To Do”, “Doing” and “Done” boards, plus any others you want to add.

You might like that – or maybe you’ve got some other sort of system in place. Just whatever you do, don’t leave it all on the ground at the end of the day. Your next morning will be much less stressful if you invest a few minutes in making it orderly.

Hey, did you send your “writing about mulch” get paid to write articles contest entry yet? You could be the lucky winner of THIS WWHW gear!