Ah, the unending quest to find balance in my workday. Lately I’ve been quite busy (which is great), but I’ve noticed some curious behaviors popping up in my normally routine-ish workday (which I’ve worked pretty hard to establish). This has left me wondering, at what point does our usage of “freelancer flexibility” begin to infringe on our work-life balance?
I see the freedom I have as an absolute luxury. I’m so grateful for it. Self-employed people have the freedom to do lots of cool things, like:
- Meet a client, prospect, or friend for lunch or coffee
- Exercise when we want – skip the crowd at the gym or take a midday bike ride
- See the doctor in the middle of the day if necessary
- Take time off, a few hours or even days when we choose to
- Schedule summer work hours around vacations/children who are home from school
- Be home to meet the cable guy/electrician/UPS guy
- Be home to walk the dog
- Work from Starbucks/Central Park/Australia/etc. I live in Ireland and visit home (New York) often. I work from both places.
- Bake a midday banana bread!
What other freedoms do you treasure?
Listen to BTW: Lee Silber gave a kick-ass (can i say that?) session at the first Creative Freelancer Conference on "How to Find Time To Build Your Business." Check it out here.
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I totally agree with all of those, Deidre! One of the reasons I wanted to start my own business -- outside of the desire to be self-employed -- was to have more time to dedicate to artistic pursuits outside of my client work (I have a background in fine art and bookbinding).
Over the last 10 years, I was able to exhibit my paintings/book art -- as well as to develop and grow my current line of greeting cards and stationery. I wouldn't have been able to do either of those while working '9-to-5' so I also treasure the life-work balance that running my own business offers me.
And being able to bring your dog to work everyday is pretty cool too (Essie couldn't imagine it any other way!)