By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, NAIWE Board of Experts-Networking
Owner, I can write about anything!^®, Communication Central, An American Editor

Related to the idea of making the most of any pre-holiday downtime is the companion concern of balancing work and family demands to stay productive from mid-November through the end of the year. No matter what you celebrate, the holiday season imposes emotional and practical demands that make a lot of people just wish for it to be done and dusted … yesterday. But you can still produce the writing and editing work that must be done.

The first step is to check that you know exactly what is due when. Make sure you have some kind of list of current and upcoming deadlines, whether it’s handwritten, in Word, in Excel, in Google Docs … Don’t let anyone tell you how to keep track of assignments and deadlines; do and use whatever works for you. I have a combination of a tabbed Word document with assignment specifics, notes on my paper calendar and a daily to-do list to help me stay focused on what I need to do when (and when I’ve billed and been paid!). Consider posting your deadlines in your workspace so you can get the satisfaction of checking things off as you finish them — and so your colleagues or family can see when you’ll be too busy to be interrupted or thrown off track with new requests.

Take advantage of any slow time in November to do some December work early. If it’s starting to feel overwhelming already, see if some projects can be pushed into January.

Learn to say no. If clients suddenly want you to churn out a ton of new work before the end of the year and you feel overburdened, find tactful ways to push their projects into the new year. If family and friends expect more than you can handle, be equally tactful, but firm, in saying no.

If you can’t get out of doing new work or projects that are already in hand and can’t be moved to 2020, try getting up an hour earlier for a couple days a week to keep yourself on schedule. That’s often easier than staying up later than usual; most of us are more fresh and energetic in the morning than late in the evening after several hours of work and family time.

Make another list to track your holiday or family commitments — travel plans, meal plans, gift planning. Use the next few weeks to get a head start on those elements whenever you can. In fact, doing some early holiday shopping and cooking can be a good break from a heavy work schedule (as long as it doesn’t interfere with those deadlines).

If these tasks feel as overwhelming as an overload of work demand, speak up! Kids and partners or spouses, siblings, even parents can and should pitch in, but if you don’t ask for help, or even tell them what to, that won’t happen. Some of them may have been waiting for years to be more involved in holiday activities, but for whatever reason, haven’t felt as if they could take a more-active role.

Let go of perfection. Remain meticulous in your work, of course, but don’t push yourself into high gear for meals, decorating, gifts, parties and outings that could be downsized and still be fun. Most of us don’t need more stuff; let relatives and friends know that you don’t want fancy or expensive presents this year. Hire someone to clean the house. Take advantage of prepared foods for some of the holiday feasts. Skip the lengthy annual letter and just do a card with a couple of photos — and send it electronically instead of by regular mail. Consider not traveling out of town and state for the big dates.

Staying productive through the holidays requires focus and discipline, but also a healthy dose of flexibility. Try not to get so locked into a 9-to-5 (or whatever hours you usually work) schedule that you miss out on holiday-related fun stuff. It’s good for our mental and physical health to play. To relax. To have a life other than work.

Whatever you celebrate, enjoy — and however much work you have to finish, best of luck.

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, NAIWE Board of Experts-Networking

Owner, I can write about anything!^®, Communication Central, An American Editor

Fresh from the 14th annual Be a Better Freelancer• conference, co-hosted this year by NAIWE for the first time, I’ve been reflecting on networking.

I’ve been called the Queen of Networking thanks to my active membership in at least a dozen professional associations and many years of contributing to communities of colleagues, including creating and hosting the Be a Better Freelancer^® conference. Throughout all this time, I’ve often been asked why I bother to be such an active networker.

It’s a good question, because networking takes time, effort and a commitment to service, and the payoffs aren’t always immediately obvious. Payoffs being important, of course, because there’s certainly a level of self-interest in networking, no matter how much it involves giving back to colleagues, communities or professions.

Why do it

We network for the selfish reason of building our businesses and contacts, but ideally to be of service to colleagues and communities as well. Networking creates visibility and credibility if we do it right, and that should lead to new clients and projects.

Arguments against

Networking can create issues, especially for die-hard introverts. It can be hard work, it requires constant effort and, as noted above, the payoffs aren’t always immediately obvious.

If you aren’t comfortable with communicating frequently — even constantly — with peers and other colleagues, that’s fine: You can be an effective networker even if you only interact with one group or make posts once a month. If you’re shy and introverted, you can network electronically rather than attend meetings or conferences in person.

Figure out what is comfortable in terms of frequency or types of information to share, and resist pressure to do more than you can handle.

How to do it

The essence of networking is that it’s a two-way process, as well as a constant one.

Start on the right foot by introducing yourself to the group(s) you’ve chosen to join: Let colleagues know something about your training, skills, experience, preferred types of projects and clients, etc. Before asking for help, try to provide something of value to the group. It isn’t that networking can’t involve getting help with your independent writing or editing business in general or with specific aspects of that business, but that you don’t want to be seen as someone who constantly takes from colleagues and never gives anything back to the group. And “Gimme” is definitely not the image you want to present in your message to networking group!

What to share

Networking can include sharing information about yourself — your publishing triumphs, new projects, speaking engagements, awards, certifications, etc. — but is its most-effective if what you share is genuinely helpful to others. That can mean, for instance, letting colleagues know about new books, events and software programs that are useful for our work; providing tips for managing an independent writing or editing business (including how to use standard tools like Word); answering colleagues’ questions about their work or projects; etc.

It can also mean alerting colleagues to new scams aimed at our profession, such as the one that circulated recently through various professional associations involving a fake editing job offer — supposedly from major companies such as Penguin and Bayer — apparently intended to either capture respondents’ identity info or sending counterfeit checks for more than promised to clean out recipients’ bank accounts. Networking also often includes warning colleagues about skeevy clients.

What not to do

If you’re new to networking, keep in mind that — again — it’s a two-way process and not a purely self-promotional one. That means your first message to a networking group should not be a request for “overflow” work or referrals. No one knows who you are, or what your training, skills and experience might be, so why would members of the group hand off work to you or refer you to potential clients on first appearance? We build our networks of clients and colleagues with care, and few people will jeopardize those connections by bringing in or referring someone who’s a total unknown. And few of us would be comfortable with telling a stranger the names of our contacts at publications, publishing houses and other client businesses.

When it works

Doing networking right can have huge benefits. Being seen as someone who provides value builds your credibility and visibility, which makes it likely that prospective clients will learn of your existence and colleagues will contact you about working together, or refer you when they hear of projects that they don’t handle or can’t take on. A good networker is likely to be asked to make speeches, write for professional publications and take on new projects. Your business — and income — should increase as you become noted for your networking chops and contributions.

And while those are the self-serving reasons to network, there is also a strong sense of gratification in being helpful to others in the field; it does feel good to do good. Not to mention that effective networking also can result in making new friends!