Why Bad Feedback Is Sometimes a Good Thing?

           

            Receiving negative feedback may hit quite hard on our self-confidence. However, negative feedback may turn out to be even more useful than a positive confidence-boost ear-balm, and perceiving it properly and wisely can serve one much more efficiently than holding grudges and self-pitying. 

            The main reason why negative feedback is a good thing is its honesty and sincerity. Now, while positive feedback can hold all the range of customer's satisfaction with the product, from being merely satisfied to being awestruck, negative feedback is always bald and blunt: something went wrong, and needs to be fixed. Positive feedback is a comfort zone and a standard – achieving it is not a jump above one's shoulders, it's a mere result of doing an assigned project, and doing it well. Negative feedback is a little tsunami in a peaceful ocean of one's element, and requires immediate actions. Don't we all need a little push sometimes?

            Of course, positive feedback is important. It lifts your spirits, cheers you up, reminds you that you do not work in vain and actually contribute to someone's good mood. Moreover, positive feedback signifies for a loyal customer, who is likely to come back and continue cooperation. Negative feedback, in its turn, gives you a clear picture of what mistakes to avoid and what to do to take your skills on a whole new level. 

            Also, negative feedback may not always come in a constructive and tactful form. It may sound offensive, discouraging, disappointing and unfair. However, any feedback is a chain reaction, a customer's call for action, their plea for their voiced concerns to be heard and considered. Thus, negative feedback can help one develop a tactic of approaching the same task more effectively, test one's ability to withstand critique and work on the weaknesses, and give one a steer on how they could do better.

         What's your opinion upon any negative feedback?

5 Tips to Beat Off the Inefficient Freelance Writer Monday Blues

           No matter you freelance full-time or part time, work during weekends or not, only work a few days a week, or have last been in the office years ago – Monday is still Monday, even if you do not need to wake up, get dressed and wait for the crowded bus to take you to your office building. Perhaps, the most frightening thing about Monday is not that it comes so abruptly and unwelcomingly after a fun, relaxed and laid-back weekend, but that it signals for the start of the new week.
           Monday, however, can be beneficial. Beat off the inefficient Monday blues with these five tips:
1. Prepare for Monday on Friday – rest well, relax, for a couple day of rest will be just enough for you to be eager to start working again. Or else - work in mild temp, smooth transition from relaxed working hours on weekend to Monday business can also serve you good.

2. Prepare for Friday on Monday – only five days to go until the weekend. Not so long if you keep yourself occupied and productive, right?

3. Monday is an especially messy affair for those who do not do planning – while everybody else is writing up their plans in their week planner, freelancers can only hope for this week to be more productive – or less stressful – than the previous one, setting hardly any measurable goals due to the changing nature of freelancing. Look at the bright side though – you can work in your own personal pace and not be rushed!

4. Make a list of things you are excited about for the new week – not necessarily, and not advisably connected with work. Embrace the new beginning, for it is new opportunities!
5. Finally, keep your Monday schedule light. You have the whole week to go, don't overstress and overwork – save your energy for the upcoming days of efficient and productive work!

How to Find Your Writing Muse And Keep It

             Freelancers' motivation to finally sit down, place the tips of your fingers upon the keyboard and type away varies in nature and degrees of success. Some lead this type of occupation because they choose freelancing instead of working 9-5 in a crowded and far-distanced office, others cannot imagine their lives without pouring words onto the paper (a Microsoft Word document, to be precise) or have their own indescribable driving factors for it. However, regardless of the motives, each one of the freelancers has to find and keep their writing muse for the sake of a skillfully completed project – first of all; and for the sake of not feeling lonely and desperate when sitting in front of the computer and attempting for a project – last, but far not least.

             Writing muse is a very unstable creature. It may come when you are least ready for it, and suddenly leave right when everything is going way too smoothly. The message which is being passed here is a simple fact that a freelancer, a person who has abandoned mundane routine of being trapped in an office and adopted to the rapid pace of social changes, needs not to rely on their writing muse solely.

             Undoubtedly, muse, inspiration, aspiration, passion, ambition or whatever other word for the indication of a lifted inner spirit which helps you finish off a project timely and nicely comes to your mind, is important. Finding it, keeping it, nurturing opts for success, however, let us be honest – this is not a sole key to success. So, the soil in which you plant a feeble sprout of a future muse has to be fertilized with your own set of fundamental skills needed for successful freelancing: writing skills, wise time-management and pleasant working environment – whatever the domain you are working in.

Good luck and may your muse stay always by your side! 😊

6 Important Skills You Can Acquire With the Help of Freelancing

Freelancing – especially academic writing – is not only about using your writing skills in the best way possible. It can actually help you acquire some important skills to come in handy during your daily activities apart from your freelance occupation.

 1) Time-management – people all over the world pay for time-management classes, attend trainings and basically spend their precious time learning the mysterious science of controlling the time and being productive which, in the long run, can as well prove to be a mere waste of time :) But look – you are practicing your time-management skills every time you get the project done on time!

2) Research skills – it takes a great deal of talent and continuously obtained experience to narrow down your research and sift through megabytes and pages of information to find just what you need, and you can only get lucky enough to stumble upon the correct web/book page just so many times.

3) Self-control

4) Self-discipline

5) Motivation

- Speaking about the three aforementioned skills within the realms of freelancing, you cannot and will not finish the assigned project on time if you do not restrict yourself from some procrastionational callings while working, do not take the responsibility for the uninviting prospects of failing the plan the client counts on, and, last but not least, scrape the words for the sake of the word count, not being motivated and interested in the subject of research.

6) Communication skills – working on a freelance basis does require quite a bit of communication. Though performed mainly online, it still develops your communication skills, as it is much harder to put the information in the typed words not being able to rely on non-verbal communication techniques: body language, intonation, gestures, etc.

The entire writing process, as you see, consists of constant self-improvement. Seize the opportunity to become better and better with every page, project and day!