The tighter they are, the better I like it …

No, I am not talking about my jeans.  Or Spanx.  I’m talking about deadlines.  Yeah, I’m one of those sickos who loves deadlines.  I thrive on ’em.  So needless to say this WordPress Daily Prompt is right up my alley:

“Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it?  Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or do you need to iterate, day after day to achieve something you’re proud of?  Tell us how you work best.”

It’s a good thing I’m a stress junkie, because advertising is all about deadlines.  They’re a constant and they’re brutal.  And they seem to get worse and worse all the time.  As I think about it, it’d be a stressful business even without the deadlines.

Why?

You try sitting in front  of a blank computer screen every day waiting for an idea to hit you, or words and sentences and images to start forming in your mind.  It’s not easy, trust me.  I’ve been doing this for a

Day 270. At Ease …

Ahhhhh … it feels SO good.  A two-day break from movies.  A two-day break from trying to fit client work, my blog and HotDocs into sixteen or so hours.  It’s amazing how much time it all takes.  How much time it takes up.  How little time it leaves for ME.

I have to admit, I’ve been a bit stressed trying to get it all done.  It’s not like I’m crazy busy.  Writing a blog every day definitely does add pressure, but I love doing it.  My client work load is certainly manageable.  And I’ve only been seeing one, and occasionally two, docs a day.  So what’s the big deal?

Well, by the time the cats are dealt with, my blog’s posted and I’m showered, fed and dressed it’s late morning.  Until it’s time to leave for the theatre, I’m busy taking care of business.  When the films are in the evening, even early evening, it’s not bad.  But when they’re in the daytime, it really interrupts my day.  And ends up putting pressure on me.

When you’re going to regular movies during the year, you just have to get there before they start.  Even if you’ve got seconds to spare.  But with festivals you want to get there at least a half hour prior; and, if you’re particular  about where you sit (aisle seats, close or far away from the screen, etc.) you have to line up early.  An hour or

Day 226. A Mystery

Yesterday I spent some time talking about advertising.  It made me think a lot about the industry.  And the people who are attracted to it.  As I said, it’s very stressful, and not just occasionally.  It’s pretty much the norm.

The hours are long.  There’s no such thing as overtime pay.  Budgets are tight, and getting tighter all the time.  There’s never enough people.  There’s never enough time.  The pressure is always on.   The days of 2-or-3-hour, 4-martini lunches are long, long gone.  Never to return.  If they ever really existed at all.

So what’s the draw?

Why do we want to work in the business, to begin with?  Why do we knowingly walk right into the fire?  Eyes wide open.  What keeps us there?

Are we masochists?  Martyrs?  Gluttons for punishment?  Into pain?  Stress junkies.  Out of our minds?

What’s with us, anyway?  What’s the common thread?  Do we all have a gene no one else has?  Or are we missing one, most

Day 155. Slow Down

Why are we so driven? Why are we in such a hurry to get a promotion? A bigger office? The corner office? Before we even know how to do the job. Why is it, we’re no sooner back from one holiday, we’re already booking the next? Before we’re even over the jet lag.

Why aren’t we ever satisfied? Content, to rest a while.

Why is it, after playing a great game of golf on Saturday, we hit buckets and buckets and buckets of balls, so we can play a better game on Sunday? Without taking a minute to enjoy the round we had. Why are we so anxious to get to the top of the mountain, we don’t even notice the beautiful scenery along the way.

It reminds me of those tours. You know the ones. See 14 cities in 10 days. The minute your plane lands, you get herded into a bus, along with 40 other tourists, with name tags, baseball caps and cameras slung around their necks. You whiz by all the standard tourist attractions, with barely enough time to point and click, through the window. It’s just one, constant blur.

No time for any exploring. No time to mingle with locals. The only time you get out of the bus, is when it’s time to go to bed.