BellaOnline Forums Career Nonfiction Writing Anyone else over whelmed?

Hey all,
I love my writing, unfortunately I'm feeling a little overwhelmed recently. I've done a ton of interviews recently that I need to write articles for, read a bunch of books and have many articles half started for reviews, I've got a 500 word magazine article with a deadline of Friday, not sure why, but it's all so overwhelming recently...

I know we discuss writers block a lot...and it's not writers block, it's actually sitting down and getting it all done.
So what do other writers do when they have tons of deadlines and are slipping a bit in the motivation (not sure that's the right word). I know there are a lot of writers here who write for a bunch of different sites. How do you keep it all under control.

Please share!!!

Signed,
overwhelmed (actually - it's me, Dianne, but I think you get the point )

ps...I know I'm overwhelmed when I posted an article in the career training forum which was so meant for the unemployment forum, fortunately I have moderator rights to both...good gosh)

Dear Overwhelmed (Dianne):

I think we all get overwhelmed at times. When we are tired or perhaps just not interested in getting something done, we put off doing tasks that need to be done.

Is it the blank piece of paper that looks back at you? Do you ever start an article in the middle? Sometimes I just do some piddling things that are a low priority to get me moving and clear the space.

I find that when I am most tired my brain sometimes has a flash of insight. When I work on a genealogy problem, just before I go to bed, when I am most tired, my brain relaxes and the light bulb comes on.

Hope tomorrow is better for you.

Thanks Angie,

I think it may be because of the lay offs we are dealing with at work. I'm in HR and it's very difficult and emotionally draining sometimes when I feel for all of these people about to lose their jobs.

But last night, I went home, got in my comfie pjs, sat on the bed with a laptop instead of at my desk computer, threw in a Monk DVD and banged out 4 articles, including the 500 word magazine piece.

It's not the blank piece of paper, it was really finding the time to sit down and get it done -
I'm like that too sometimes when I actually have writers block. I start in the middle. Sometimes I start at the beginning but by the 3rd or 4th paragraph, it finally takes shape so I have to go back and re-write the beginning again. That's actually when it's the most fun, when the thought of the article actually takes shape!!!

Today is a new day and I'm ready!!! (Check in with me again at 5...lol...)

It can be helpful to think of your goals and the steps it will take to reach them. If writing is one of those steps, it can be helpful to visualize writing a very popular article or book and making money from them. Even if your current project(s) isn't paying so well.

Oh I absolutely understand feeling overwhelmed. I recently started freelancing with a content creation company as I had a savings goal I wanted to meet, but honestly pumping out articles on boring subjects is not my idea of fun, thankfully right now I am writing about business which means I can write much faster and with some interest on the topics....... oh and yes, I often start at the middle of the article because I have an idea in my head but am not quite sure how to start it. Self doubt is often a paralysing thing for me, I write and rewrite just in case the article isn't good enough when in reality it was probably just fine the first time LOL!!!!