Those editing jobs that make doing your taxes look good? I have a host of tips for eating that frog, today in my How To column at Copyediting.com. And with that, I shall take my “walk in the sunshine” reward.
You only have to get through ten seconds. You can do anything for ten seconds.
— Kimmy Schmidt, Unbreakable
Maybe during this gruelling edit you need to go find a janitor, look him in the eye, and say “thank you for doing this work. It is so important, and I am I grateful for your effort and diligence” [so that I don’t have to do it]. Now there’s a job I would dread every day, yet this person keeps showing up and doing their job well, and it is so important. Appreciating others’ resilience really does make it easier to tackle the occasional cruddy job.
I’ll also recommend drinking, dancing (or any exercise), and sex.
This post refers to a productivity concept known as“eat the frog first” and several related posts:
- Self-care when subject matter is disturbing.
- Tips for coping with disturbing content.
- Strategies for times of crazy busy.
- “Mind hacks” to help your eyes keep seeing the words on the page.
- Triage for Tight Schedules.
Photo by Ryan Abel, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 license.
