Since almost all of the layouts I submit are for specific calls as opposed to general submissions, lately I constantly find myself working on a schedule dictated by deadlines. My calendar has mapped out all the deadlines for calls I would like to create submissions for, as well as my personal schedule.
Somehow even with all this planning out of deadlines it seems I am always scrambling at the last minute to complete projects. A friend mentioned to me awhile back the she had completed a layout for a certain call and would love to see mine….and my response was “that deadline is weeks away – I’ve barely thought about that call yet!” When I complete one project, I look at the calendar to see what’s next. Calls due six weeks from now in January? I’ve got at least 3 other calls to think about first!
Does the pressure of the deadline simply motivate me to get my work done? Or does the adrenalin fuel my creativity in some perverse way? On Sunday I had completed (I thought!) my layouts for my entry for the Carolee’s Design Team Contest. I was done a whole two days early – practically unheard of for me! As a treat to myself I sat down yesterday to do a “quickie” layout, to just get something I wanted to record thrown in my scrapbook. Then I discovered that the only paper in my stash I felt would work for the page was a Carolee’s product…..then I got inspired about a neat way to arrange and embellish the layout….and before I knew it I was scrambling to create another layout for the contest! I had thought I was all done and then inspiration strikes and suddenly I find myself scrambling as always. It never changes!
So that feeling of satisfaction about being done before the deadline lasted a few hours and now today, as usual, I will be hoping my daughter will take a nice long nap so that Mommy can finish her work before the deadline tonight!
Yes, I was the kid in school who always wrote my papers the night before the deadline…
About Nancy Nally
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