Chapter Twenty-Nine: Loving the Work

The phrase goes, ‘Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.’ It’s a nice sentiment, that passion in our professional fields will make every day an easy, blissful experience. What if we tweaked this phrase for other aspects of our lives?

“Date someone you love and you’ll never need to work on your relationship.”

“Eat the food you love and you’ll never need to work on your fitness.”

None of that sounds realistic, does it?

Making a living by doing what we love can be a lot easier said than done, not necessarily because the field isn’t practical, but because it is physically impossible to love every aspect of the work we do every day of the week.

The Good, the Bad, and the Mundane

No matter the job title, there will always be aspects that are unappealing, the tasks that are reluctantly put on the to-do list, but are usually pushed to the bottom because they’re the least fun, least rewarding, or most aggravating.

Especially for business owners, who always wear many hats, sometimes the mundane aspects of running an operation can overshadow the joy of working for oneself. Administrative tasks like invoicing or fielding cold calls can weigh down an otherwise exciting day of doing the work that we love. Financial tasks like creating a budget or filing taxes can be a nightmare, even when the business these functions support is so fulfilling.

Too Much of a Good Thing

The concept of loving the work somehow making the work decrease is a strange one. When we love something, don't we generally want more of it? It’s easy to forget that balance is what allows us to keep working steadily and that rest, even from the work we love, is crucial to maintain that pace, or even to increase our productivity.

When we work for ourselves, it becomes all too easy to become consumed by this love we have for the work we do and the business we’ve created for ourselves. Our sense of pride comes into play and the success of our business creates its own kind of passion in our lives, and we crave more and more. But no one person can do it all, not if growth is the goal.

In part, that’s why Noteworthy Communications was born. After all, people rarely get into business so they can promote their business. That’s where outsourcing to someone who loves promotion and marketing comes in handy. There is someone out there with love for every job that needs to be done. Part of our job, whether we love it or not, is to find them and utilize them well.

Loving the work does not negate the work. Loving the work only makes the job more generally enjoyable. Enjoying our jobs goes such a long way toward the overall happiness of our daily lives, in and out of work, that it is certainly a worthwhile goal to make a living doing something we enjoy. If we’re not, then what is the point of pursuing it?

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Editing On the Page

Write, edit, publish. It’s the sequence of events most people know, but it’s the details of the second step that can easily be overlooked. Editing is such a broad term and can really mean anything. Trimming the fat. Expanding for clarity. Fact-checking. Red pen. Giant X’s. Scribbles in margins.

With editorial services being one of the main offerings at Noteworthy Communications, I often have to whittle down what a client really needs when they want to hire Noteworthy to handle their document.

So, what are the different kinds of editing, in what order do they happen, and how can a person even tell what kind of editing their project needs?

Content Editing

Content editing, or structural or developmental editing, is a bird’s eye view of the manuscript that occurs once a rough draft is completed. This includes a review of the entire document to manage the flow of the work, focusing on the structure and layout to optimize the goal of the project.

Line Editing

Line editing is more of a fine-tooth-comb where every single sentence in a manuscript is massaged to weave it into a cohesive piece that will draw readers in. Rather than correcting errors, line editing is about establishing consistency of voice and style.

Copyediting

Next is copyediting, which is what most people think of when they think of editing. It involves checking the manuscript for errors such as bad grammar, misspellings, and punctuation.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final type of editing to take place in the process, including once final formatting and layout is complete. The project should be in its final form, including headings, subheadings, graphics, and pull-out quotes, because plenty of mistakes can take place when turning a document into a full presentation ready for publication.

Oftentimes, when potential clients reach out for services, all they know is that they have words on a page and they are not ready to be viewed by the public. However, any decent editor should be able to break down these services when discussing what’s needed.

While there are other examples of editing that writers and editors utilize when working within a manuscript, they tend to be very specific for the type of document they are working in, from research papers to fiction and everywhere in between.

To make sure whatever work you’re sharing, whether within your organization or with the wider public, is clear, polished, informative, and entertaining, seek out the professionalism editorial services of Noteworthy Communications.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Plan, Sow, Harvest

Just like the calendar, life has seasons. During the month of October, for example, the calendar tells us we are in the season of harvest, when a bounty of crops are gathered before the oncoming frost of winter. However, the timing of when those seedlings were planted is just as important to consider.

As in life and our professional endeavors, timing can make all the difference. We don’t reap the harvest the day that we plan out the garden. We don’t enjoy the fruits of our labor the day we plant the seeds. After days, weeks, and months of tending our little plot of land, only then can we expect any kind of payoff, and even then, only if conditions are just right.

Plan the Garden

In any line of work, having a plan is crucial. Even planting a garden requires a plan. Is there full sunlight? What about access to enough water? How fertile is the soil? Having all these elements in place before planting is just as important as the planting itself because without them, the effort will just be wasted when nothing is able to grow.

Creating the environment necessary for business growth can be half the battle. We have to look to the future to see our goals, then work backwards. These goals can be reaching broader audiences, offering new services, gaining more clients, or achieving a certain financial milestone. The goals may be varied, but the plan always comes first.

Sow the Seeds

Once our plan is set, we can consider our existing resources, then strategize on how to fill in the gaps of what may be missing. Now is the time to consider what our businesses will require in the coming months, and particularly in the new year, to reach these new heights. What changes do we want to make? What results are we working for? Who can help us in the areas where we lack the necessary expertise? These questions are the little seedlings that will allow our garden to truly flourish.

Not everyone has land to grow their own garden. Renting a plot at a community garden might be the solution. Seeking a helping hand from outside resources can make all the difference and increase our harvest exponentially. If someone is willing to work with us and get their hands a little dirty too, the fruits of that extra labor will be twice as sweet.

Garden metaphors aside, no person or business can always be in the harvest stage of life. Indeed, the harvest tends to be the shortest season in the cycle. It’s everything that comes before that really matters. That’s where the real work takes place and where all possibilities first take root.

Our professional pursuits take time to come to fruition, but the feeling of fulfillment can be immediate, as long as we know we are putting in the work that will benefit us later. The process can’t be rushed, but it can be strategized, and when it comes to the tools required to grow a beautiful garden, Noteworthy Communications can be one of many. Let’s prepare for the harvest together and usher in a new season of achievement and growth.