Most of the time, I’m intrigued by my work. Being a freelancer means taking on projects of all shapes and sizes – some of them I’m familiar with and some that are just plain odd. That’s the beauty of the work: one day I’m researching African rivers, and another I’m editing a book on early education.

However, this kind of variation and freedom means I sometimes run into topics that do not dissolve well in my cup of tea. It would be glorious to be in a place where I only took on interesting projects, but come on – I don’t know any freelancers who are quite that successful.

So I must trudge on and get the work done, even if I’d rather be scrubbing my daughter’s little plastic potty. But I don’t do it without coping mechanisms.

Do the work in small doses. It’s much more palatable to write about something boring if I’m only doing it for about a half hour at a time. I can either switch back and forth with more interesting work or with simply spending time with my daughter. Yes, it makes the tedium last longer, but it keeps me from getting frustrated and producing poor quality work.

Find an interesting angle. Just because your topic is boring doesn’t mean your outcome has to be. In fact, a good writer can make a 600-word article on tile grout something that dazzles the mind. If you have the freedom to write about any angle on a topic, use it to your (and your client’s) advantage by adding a little spice.

Offer yourself rewards. Dangle the proverbial carrot in front of your computer. Tell yourself that if you write one more paragraph, you get to step out for a cup of coffee. Two articles, and you get to watch last night’s episode of Top Chef on your DVR. The important thing is not to cheat and take your reward before you earn it!

Consider outsourcing. If you’re in a position where you occasionally outsource your excess work to other writers, do yourself a favor and hoard all the good projects. The best thing about hiring other people is giving them all the stuff you don’t really want to do, freeing you up to do what you really enjoy.

Put in a little code. As writers, playing with words is one of the perks of the job. I’ll admit, I’ve done a little inappropriate code making once or twice in my professional past. Because everyone deserves entertainment, variety is our ultimate salvation.

Look on the bright side. Calculate how much money you’ll have by the end of the project or figure out how much your tedium is netting you per hour. Then compare that to the drudgery you would be doing for the same salary in a stuffy office. Tile grout never sounded so good!

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