How to handle a rush job.
No one ever pulled off a successful late night heist without a plan. Plan everything.
Look at the task from all angles. If youâve only got 24 hours to turn around a project, youâll probably be working late into the night. No one wants to be contacted at 10pm with you on the other end of the line hanging out for information. Do you need to liaise with someone? Do you need to prep a printer? Make sure you schedule that during business hours.
Plan your hands-on creative work for a time period when you wonât be interrupted. Plan where youâll be so you can make sure your internet connection is up to sending those sizable files. Plan what youâre eating so itâs ready to grab and go. This is all about efficiency. The only thing you shouldnât be planning on is having a social life. Cancel on Steak Night. Theyâll understand.
Prioritise. First and foremost, what do you need to make the project work? Start with the bare bones. Just get them done. Do not make anything that is not essential in those initial stages. If youâre some kind of speedy-turnaround superhero and you find yourself with excess time, thatâs when you can start finessing.
On that note, spend more time on the presentation than the kerning. The kerning can be tweaked in a spare couple of minutes â your rationale canât. Explain first, finesse later. Feeling like a failure because youâve spent twenty minutes flicking back and forth between the Calibre bold and the Open Sans semi-bold? Stop it. Youâre being ridiculous. They both work. Pick one. Chances are, itâs always better than you think. Stress less about leading and more about concept.
3. Higher your standards
On less of a superficial level and more of an actual quota level. Make everything standard. PDF? Standard. Printing? Standard. Typography? Just make it work. Get a combination going that doesnât require a paste up. Youâre not a specialist right now and no one is expecting you to be. Youâre juggling multiple balls at high speed, like some kind of sadistic circus race. Put your game face on and focus on the juggle.
4. Donât stop, never give up (hold your head high and reach the top)
Ah, Dory, you beautiful tropical fish. The Finding Nemo favourite said it best: Just keep swimming swimming swimming. Stuck on something? Move onto another task and come back to it. It will still be there in an hour and you wonât have lost valuable time to staring at a page. Plus thereâs a lot of value in looking at something with fresh eyes. Working on that other task may just be the inspiration you need.
This applies to all the challenges you might come across. Your hard drive spontaneously combusted. Your cat ate your mouse. Your âSâ key has mysteriously stopped working. Donât panic. This is what youâve been training for. Youâre going to take a deep breath, MacBook MacGyver your way out of it, and keep going. Against all odds, youâve got this.
5. For the love of Garamond, do not procrastinate
Seriously. Donât do it. Itâs hard, everything is distracting, youâre trapped in a Wikipedia spiral. You never knew just how interested you were in Spanish tapestry weaving in the 18th Century until now. Itâs just so fascinating. But those silky threads will still be there tomorrow. Theyâve been there for the last 300 years, after all. But itâs go time. You need to focus.
Set yourself a mini-timeline and break it down into timeslots. You need to be at 85% productivity. Thatâs 50 minutes of every hour. Work for an hour and a half, then reward yourself with a guilt-free 20 minute social media/sewing/snacking break. And donât go over your time limit. Much like high school, you need to be back in class by the time the bell goes or youâll land yourself a lunchtime detention. Except a lunchtime detention is now less about picking up rubbish in the schoolyard and more about missing a deadline and damaging your professional reputation. Swings and roundabouts?
6. Keep it in perspective
The most important thing you can do here is know that itâs a rush job. Do not pretend you have unlimited time or you will not pass GO, you will not collect $200*. You only have the time you have. Make sure you manage the expectations on yourself accordingly.
Youâre competing against the part of you that wants to make something beautiful. And, lordy, itâs putting up a good fight. But remind yourself that you are doing your best with the time youâve got and, whatever youâve done, itâs more than your client could have managed. Thatâs why they hired you. Your job has worth.
Source:Â http://www.sexdrugshelvetica.com/how-to-handle-a-rush-job/
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