Projects kept stretching out

"I am a freelance writer, which means that I determine my own work schedule. I always have several ongoing projects at once, and I decide how much time to spend on each one.

Unfortunately, I am still a tad insecure about my work, despite being in the business for years. I tend to spend all the time I have on my work; if I neglect to put in the time, I feel disappointed with what I produce.

Before I realized that I had time management problems, I would start projects well in advance, knowing that I needed the time to perfect them. Then I learned an important lesson from one of my colleagues: that tasks will take as much time as you allow for them. I had known this fact before, but I needed a coworker to notice that I was living proof of it.

I now organize and partition my time much more carefully. I try not to begin a project before allocating a precise block of time to it. I also procrastinate purposely some of the time, knowing that I have enough time allocated for each project already and need some time for myself."