A year of freelancing
So, today is worth noting for two reasons. First, it’s the official start of my unofficial Maternity Leave. (Being self-employed, the government doesn’t give me squat) Second, it marks the one-year anniversary of me quitting my job and starting to freelance.
It’s been an interesting year, for reasons both personal and professional. A lot of what’s happened was, at least in part, made possible because of my desicion to work for myself.
Freelancing gave me the freedom to pick up shop and move to Waterloo, to spend more time doing my own writing, and to learn how to pay more attention to finances. Also, on what probably seems like a less relevant level but really is equally important, it has allowed me to take my dog on walks at lunch time, and take a half hour nap in the middle of a Tuesday.
It’s not all roses though; freelancing does have certain drawbacks. It took me a long time to get used to sitting in a room by myself all day. I did (and still very much do) miss the social aspect of working - chatting with coworkers (face-to-face, not over the internet), having more opportunities to share ideas, etc. It’s also taken awhile to develop the adequate self-discipline needed to be my own boss. The aforementioned Tuesday afternoon nap is actually a rare occurrence. But in the beginning, it was undoubtedly difficult to fight off the constant urge to sleep in, wear jogging pants, take long breaks and watch a lot of midday cable shows.
After a short while I guess you just kind of figure out that unless you put in the hours, the cheques don’t show up in the mail. And I’ve been fairly lucky in that even during these supposedly trying economic times, I’ve been able to find work. There have been a few dry spells, but nothing significant.
As of today, I’m taking what I hope is only a month-and-a-half off. I’ve never had a baby before, so I have no idea how much effort and time a newborn requires, but I imagine it’s a lot. Regardless, starting in June, I’m hoping to slowly start taking on projects again, just to keep myself in the loop. We’ll see if baby cooperates.
Speaking of which…I’m just over 38 weeks. Here’s hoping the kid has inherited his father’s penchant for punctuality vs. his mother’s inklings towards fashionable lateness.
April 17th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Yeah, I don’t know if I could do full-time freelance. I need to be around people, I think. Plus, Jen would never let me wear jogging pants that much.