#002 Rates, Deadlines, and The 100th Try
#002 Rates, Deadlines, and The 100th Try
Common Discourse Weekly Briefing
Common Discourse is a weekly briefing designed to help others (and myself) think through creativity, focus, and intentional work. I send this newsletter out every Monday at 9:17am. To receive future briefings, sign up below
Here are some brief ideas from me, a quote from somebody else, and my favorite links on the internet from the last week. 👇
I. On Rates
Charging hourly for creative work is a good starting point, but keeps you small in the long run.
A task that took you 3 hours when you first started might take you 30 minutes now.
Pay yourself for all the time it's taken you to get to this point. You haven't been working for 3 or 4 hours. You've been working since the day you started.
II. Deadlines
For some reason, deadlines become more important than delivering good work.
The world keeps going if we push the presentation to next week or if we send retouched photographs a couple hours late, but delivering something bad for the sake of hitting a deadline could be your last swing.
Nobody will remember if it was on time, but everyone will remember whether it was good or bad. Just ask for an extra day if you need it. It's what's best for everyone.
III. The 100th Try
We wrote down nearly 100 other names before we landed on MOUTHWASH.
I looked back at my journal this week and realized that if we had stopped early, MOUTHWASH could have been named Crosswalk, Leftovers, or Midterms.
The first few things we can think of are rarely the best ideas that we're capable of coming up with. So when you think you've got it, keep going.
A quote from somebody else:
“There’s something that happens when you say what you’re doing before it’s done, and most of it is not positive. You’re accountable for that version that you talk about, when it very well may undergo change. It’s usually better for me to make what I make, put it out or don’t, and then talk about it freely" — Frank Ocean via W Magazine
My favorite links from the past week:
🧱 Watched a movie called Brick last week and I loved it. It was made with a budget of $500k
🌍 Jake Dow-Smith created an amazing resource for helping us all better understand what it means to publish online.
Thanks for reading this week!
My name is Alex Tan and this is my newsletter. I’m a maker & educator, I created MOUTHWASH with my friends, and I own way too many white sneakers. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
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