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October 03, 2007

Near, far, near, far

I've been freelancing for a little over a year now, and I've decided that the toughest part of this job is measuring my own progress.

In admin work, it's easy. You judge your day's success based on whether or not you reacted to things. When the copier broke down today, did you fix it, or did you not fix it? Only one answer indicates a successful day.

Working for myself, not so easy to judge. If I apply for three jobs in a day, that could be considered good. Or I could remember that there were two job boards I didn't even look at: bad. Maybe I wrote two article drafts and emailed my editor: good. But if I also watched three episodes of Buffy, was it still a productive day?

I've never missed a deadline, I've never had an article rejected, and I regularly get new jobs. I've been freelancing for a year and I'm halfway to my financial goal, which may sound slow but seems to be a normal pace for new freelancers. I've learned to ask strangers personal questions, set my own rates, manage my time, and run a business.

On the other hand, I still goof off for part of every day, Gene still has to pay my rent, I am a crappy housekeeper even though I have time to spare, and I sometimes have days where I don't do one single productive thing.

So it's hard to say how I'm doing. The only real progress I can measure is internal. Just a few months ago I was still telling people I was a professional sponge. Now I tell them I'm a writer.

I don't know other freelancers, but I know most of you manage your own lives just like grownup type people. How do you judge a successful day, or week, or year? Is this even something I should be worrying about?

Posted by didofoot at October 3, 2007 12:45 PM

Comments

If it makes you feel any better, I can say that from my vantage on the lazy, dilettante-ish grad student side of the street you sound impressively productive and self-motivated. But just so you know, I say this as someone who accidentally OD'd on cold medication this morning (who knew that lozenges and syrups might have redundant ingredients?), left class in a full hallucinogenic panic attack, drove herself home while experiencing same, and is now sitting at home in the middle of the afternoon wearing PJs, eating coconut milk soup, watching "The King and I," fucking around online, and trying to decide whether to use her student loans to buy a fancy new computer before the cough syrup high wears off. So you can decide whether grownup points from me count for or against you.

Posted by: katie at October 3, 2007 03:01 PM

I goof off at work....hence this comment. And I have my non productive days at work where I feel like I've done nothing. I just wish I had the option to watch Buffy on my non productive days

Posted by: nuala at October 3, 2007 04:22 PM

uh yeah, i sit around in my pajamas every day until 1pm when i finally consent to shower. and then i go to work for a grand total of 2.5 hours, 4 times a week. and i make about as much as you and my mom pays for my rent, my food, and what little of my school fees aren't covered by my grant. sure you can say in a year when i'm done with school i'll be making a lot more, but who's to say in a year you won't be making a lot more from free-lancing?

admittedly, i never feel as guilty as you for being a sponge. and i am pretty productive during the day (though smelly) as i do a lot of homework. or attack with gusto my shelves of unread books. i find this productive, making them less.

Posted by: michele at October 4, 2007 10:09 AM

Unlike Michele, I am at work (theoretically chipper and unsmelly) every morning at 8:30 and I remain there until 5:30. But today I spent my afternoon banging my head against an accounting system I don't know how to use, and have yet to accomplish the one simple thing I was trying to do with it. So, metaphorically speaking, I did not fix the copier and the day is a write-off.

I could have been at home in my pajamas eating pancakes and failing to accomplish things, but I find that after a while being home with no external pressure to do things stops being luxurious and starts being enervating. If you are managing to withstand the ravages of bumming around the house all the time (I am totally serious here), that is an accomplishment all by itself.

Posted by: Dianna at October 4, 2007 05:10 PM

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