In her book Ten Characteristics of Quality Indexes, Margie Towery recommends taking a nap as a way to boost concentration and attention. Other suggestions include going for a walk, meditation, or yoga. As she puts it, “the trick is to be aware of when your productivity is suffering and then… Read More »Cross-Training for Freelancers
A couple of months ago I wrote a free email course on indexing. It provides an overview for how to write an index, from start to finish, as well as pointers for what makes an excellent index. When I first announced this project, I got a few puzzled reactions. One… Read More »Why Hire an Indexer?
I do not check email in the morning. Depending on the day, I either first check around 12:30 pm or 1:30 pm and respond to what I can within half an hour, though I often don’t need that much time. I then check again around 5 or 5:30 pm, though… Read More »Mindful Communication with Clients
Last week I wrote about what I accomplished during my sabbatical. I have also had some people ask how I was able to take the time off, as six weeks, or even four weeks, is a sizeable time commitment as well as lost income. So I want to cover some… Read More »Tips for Taking a Sabbatical
The title for this post is, admittedly, tongue in cheek. I am not suggesting that those of us with our own businesses are lazy. It does point towards the reality, though, that it can be so hard to make time, or even know where to start looking, when it comes… Read More »The Lazy Person’s Guide to Business Development
Deep work, as defined by Cal Newport in his book of the same title, is “professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.” As I was reading Newport’s… Read More »Indexing as Deep Work
This is my sixth anniversary as a freelance indexer! It was the end of October, 2012, that I left my job at Harbour Publishing and moved back to Vancouver with the intention to work for myself. That first year I received only a few projects, which I have to admit… Read More »Freelance Anniversary Reflections
I am entering the final stretch of scrambling to wrap up projects before I leave tomorrow for a week-long holiday. I have yet to manage a smooth transition from work to holiday. Somehow I just cannot seem to finish projects until the very last minute. Sometimes I end up taking… Read More »Holidays, and the Fear of Missing Out
It has so far been a busy summer. That means tight deadlines and renewed thoughts about how to be more efficient in my indexing process. I mean, indexing is tough. It is constant analysis, understanding what the text means and discerning how to make the text accessible to readers. If… Read More »Three Indexing Mind Hacks
It occurred to me, after I published the post a couple of weeks ago on how to define and self-assess experience, that imposter syndrome is closely related. How many freelancers experience that? I do. Imposter syndrome is that nagging feeling that my accomplishments are all a fraud. I don’t actually… Read More »Standing Up to Imposter Syndrome