Overloaded: The Constant Pruning of the Freelance Shrub
by: Rachel Lauer
As I write this I have 4 web sites to update, 4 web sites to design, 2 articles that are due, 1 series of articles I should get to, 1 novel in the brainstorming stage, 1 non fiction book in the rewriting phase, and the beginning of 1 wonderful relationship with oil paint.
What all of this amounts to is a distaste for whatever season of the year it is (can’t wait for Autumn! Calm!), and the immense desire to go back to bed even though it is 1:48 in the afternoon.
Sigh.
I tend to overload, prune back, overload, prune. Is there such a thing as a steady freelancing career?
Maybe, if you have it pinned down to one area of work. Maybe, after years of working like a dog to get your focused business into a good pace. Maybe, for the most part.
Perhaps one day I’ll just be a writer, using my handy writers planner. I’ll spend summers creating stories and characters in my head. Autumns taking notes. Winters writing 8 hours per day. Springs entering the publishing arena with nice thick soles for all the foot tapping while waiting for word and all the jumping through hoops.
In many ways I am still a beginner. While I’ve been at this for years, I haven’t singled out any one course of work (Adult ADHD?) Certainly a more focused approach is better. I can’t keep up these 5 lines of freelance work forever. Eventually I’ll cut down to 1 or 2. 3 Tops.
Perhaps just like life in general (unless you live on a deserted island, or Montreal), you’re bound to be overworking and then cutting back in some ways, over and over, until…
you retire…
That’ll be the day!
win the lottery…
Oh! That’ll be the day!
or die..
Umm.. That’ll probably be the day.
About the Author
Rachel is a freelancer with too many web sites to list, so how about giving you just one:
www.RachelLauer.com.
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