Contract Worker - Freelancing Experiences

Entering The Zone

by Rico on November 24th, 2006

Happy times, when the words comes naturally, when that first design draft is the best you’ve made. Nothing makes freelancers—and their clients—happier than a well-made project quickly finished. Looking back at the times when I ran on automatic, these things were true when it happened:

Felt Rested: Never got into the zone while I was sleepy, or worse, burning the midnight oil to fulfill that looming deadline. Ironic, isn’t it? The more you need to get into the zone, the harder it is to achieve.

Freed my Mind: Rare times indeed, when my conventional self shakes off all notions looks at things in totally different ways (how would purple taste?). Before I knew it the idea hit and got me going like a runaway train.

Flowed With It: The stickler in me never appeared to stop the momentum. I just did my thing, and checked for mistakes later. Another irony: work without thinking about the mistakes you’ll make, and your performance will probably be flawless.

Focus: The only thing existing in the world during these times were me and the project. Everything else, distractions, other projects, and personal hygiene (joke!) practically disappeared. It’s so easy to concentrate on what you’re doing, because practically nothing else exists.

Four F’s for Freelancers!

The only problem is, getting into the zone is a random thing; only a rare few summon it by will, unlike the rest of us mortals. At least that’s my opinion. This PDF carries more info on the zone, and how you might actually call upon it as needed.

“Being in the zone…is…a moment when everything goes so perfectly that you slip into a gear that you didn’t even know was there
-as quoted from Bill Russell

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POSTED IN: On Freelancing