Why Do I Love My Weird Freelancing/Business Owner/One-Woman-Show Schedule?
As a freelancing, jack-of-all-trades kind of gal, I often find myself working at weird hours. Much of the time, I run errands in the early afternoon and have meetings in the late afternoon. If I feel like sleeping in one day, I can finish my work in the nighttime. Although this can make it seem like there's constantly work to be done 24/7, it's actually very relieving to have breaks between tasks or project sections.
Inspiration - Going for It When There's an Idea
A lot of the time I'm in the office and there's not a lot going on, I'll scroll through Pinterest or Twitter and just kind of hang out in case anyone needs anything right away. However, this is rarely the case so I'm left to shuffle around and do some busywork. But then it hits me - an idea! Suddenly I spring into action and there's something either very beautiful or very detailed after about an hour. This is a pretty regular occurrence in my fairly empty office.
Other times, I'll be in the car or at the boyfriend's house just chilling and something similar happens. There's another one of those idea things! So here I am, writing this down the street from where I'm about to go wine tasting and having just finished a website mock-up for a client who will soon own a very gorgeous estate-style wedding venue.
If you don't immediately go for it when you have an idea, the idea will fade away because it wasn't treated right. Ideas are meant to excite the idea-engineer, and that's the beginning of something beautiful! Having a freelance schedule that allows me to just drop everything and attend to an idea is what makes them continue to pop into my head.
Motivation and Getting Things Done
For really anyone with an office job, it can be very annoying to HAVE to get stuff done for deadlines and it is limiting to only be able to do work in a - usually a very bland and stifling - office. With this beautiful freedom called freelancing, your work is where you are! Motivated at Starbucks at 4 in evening? Laptop! Motivated in a crazy long line at the grocery store? Notebook! Motivated waiting for movie previews to start at a theater? Cell phone!
While I understand that many jobs can be done this way, many jobs still must be done in one place during a set time. Some agencies don't allow employees to take a company laptop home to work outside of their schedule and claim overtime. The beauty of freelancing is that not having set hours itself can be a motivator! No work equals no money. Boom, motivation on your own schedule.
Creating Quality Content - Not Getting Burnt Out
It can be difficult if you are demanded a certain amount of content or material within a given time span, especially for creatives. Using the artistic part of your brain constantly can quickly diminish the quality of content produced. So, again, if you have an idea, roll with it then! Forcing your idea-maker to work overtime is a good way to come up with bad content.
This also goes for burning yourself out - you never want to get sick of what you're doing. Part of having a creative job is loving your creative side! #selflove
Sharing is Caring
If you have any thoughts or feedback or extra knowledge, share it in the comments. The whole point of this blog is to help each other figure it all out!
