Sorry it’s been a while folks. After a serious lull, with which I was quite happy and enjoyed the time to wax lyrical on Jabbermouth, school holidays arrived and so did the work.
In an attempt to assuage the guilt of never being around for my children, I had organised – a while ago – to take them to the country for a few days during the break. Seeing how the downward economy has been riding roughshod over my money-making attempts, I figured that 4 days out of town would be easily managable. Wrong!
The Friday before I left Sydney I had three meetings which briefed in new work, all of which was due either the following week or early the one after… Welcome to days of playing in the park followed by long and bitterly cold (I was in Armidale, NSW. It got to -7C one night) evenings of writing furiously until the wee hours.
I managed to meet the first deadline by the skin of my teeth last Friday and pulled off the other this morning. Yay. Now I suppose I should either be a) whinging furiously about the lulls and peaks of freelance timings, or b) celebrating joyously that I have managed to keep my clients satisfied. If had to choose I would err towards the latter. There’s certainly no debate that making people happy, or at the very least think about it, is in large part what drives my ambition.
For me, the ebb and flow of my work stream is what keeps me feeling liberated and in somewhat in charge of my own destiny. Nice work when you can get it! That I love what I do so much it feels, not like work but simply an extension of who I am, well I guess that’s why I write for a living.
Where it falls down, is that in working for oneself, there are myriad other responsibilities that come with the job description. Accounts, budgets and proposals, client management and prospecting for new business. Giving all these equal and fair attention can be a challenge even on the finest, sunniest days. I must admit lately, what with jobs being quiet and the frustration of having to wear 5 different hats, I have considered getting a ‘real job.’
But what would I gain?
a) I am already fortunate enough be part of Creative Suite – a creative collective that shares ideas, inspiration and camaraderie, down in Manly – so I don’t miss ‘the team thing.’
b) I have the flexibility to come and go as I need – which makes managing a job, family, husband and friends almost feasible (especially on days like today when a sick child needs picking up at midday).
c) I choose my work – which means that whether its freelance journalism, copywriting, editing, ideas generation, marketing strategy, technical literature, blogging, scriptwriting or creative fiction, every aspect of letterland gets a guernsey. And in my book, variety is the key.
d) My clients choose to work with me, because both personally and professionally there is a connection – which makes the jobs far more meaningful to me than when they are produced as part of the cog in a bigger agency machine. (yes, I do contract to agencies. Please refer to my earlier point about ‘variety’…).
e) Don’t tell anyone, but secretly (in small doses) I quite like accounting and budgeting, writing proposals and new business. I guess it’s all part of the variety show that seems to be a recurring theme in this monologue.
Plus, Dan (Shoeboex Creative) – our Creative Suite designer and I, had a great brainstorm today about how we can continue to get bigger and better in what we offer and how we present it. Our fortnightly Thinking Club sessions are another way we push inspiration through our everyday workday.
I for one am not quite ready to give that all up just yet. Not this week anyway!
But what about you? Do you work for the man, are you walking in the wilderness, or is it something in between? I’d love to know how you balance your work and personal life. Or is it just me that likes to navel gaze?
Let’s get this conversation started. And thanks for listening…
Charlotte
