Did you know that some of us are unintentionally harming our personal productivity and the health of our business? Without realizing it, we can slip into habits that keep us busy but not necessarily effective.

Proofreaders and editors should stop doing these three things right away:

Stop overscheduling your day.
Notice I didn't say "don't schedule your day." Quite the opposite, I strongly suggest scheduling your day in a system like time blocking.

What I'm warning against here is overscheduling your day. Smart proofreaders and editors include some margin (free time) between different types of tasks in case unexpected things come up which can affect their schedule. This is especially true for perfectionists (like myself 🙋‍♀️) who get frustrated when their schedules change often.

Stop working late nights AND early mornings.
I prefer to wake up early and work on proofreading tasks before the rest of my house begins stirring. However, I understand that not everyone is an early bird. Some people are night owls. And that's okay too.

My point here is not to do both. No one, not even the most talented person, can burn the candle at both ends (early morning and late night) for very long. Eventually that candle is going to burn out!

Stop missing events with family and friends due to overworking.
When I first started my proofreading business in 2016, I found myself frequently missing family activities because I needed to finish client work. I was trying to build my business and accepted as many jobs as my clients would send me. Now I realize that was a mistake. We all need breaks from work, and time with family or friends can be just the rejuvenating activity that our souls need.

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What other bad habits have you been tempted by lately? Sometimes saying them out loud (or writing them in a journal) is just the prompt we need to make a change.

To your success,
Julie from The Proofreader Greenhouse

P.S. If you'd like to read the other articles in The Watering Can, click here. 💦

Proofreaders and Editors Should Stop Doing These 3 Things Right Away