It’s officially been a week since I started working for myself as a freelance writer. I loved every minute of it. I am not a naturally positive person. I tend to find fault in myself or my surroundings most of the time. But I can honestly say that this week has been one of the happiest of my life. Writing all day on my own schedule in my favorite place on earth (my sun room) is a gift. I so hope I can do this for the rest of my life.
As I continue this journey, I want to make sure I document the things I learn and the things that happen to me. I thought I would share them since they were helpful for me. Maybe they would be for others. Here they are:
I need a routine. I am more productive if I schedule time for everything workday-related. Otherwise, I get distracted. So, I’ve set myself a schedule for each day that starts and ends with a session on my treadmill. I plan writing time and proposal time. I plan a time to walk the dog. This may seem like the antithesis of being self-employed but I need it. It helps me focus.
I have no life. I don’t think I realized how much of my time was taken up by work before this week. I wrote almost every night and all weekend when I was working at LSS. It’s been weird to not have to write at night. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’m going to need to re-discover my other interests. Anybody have good book recommendations?
I need to organize my work finances. I’ve got spreadsheets and multiple contract and invoicing platforms. I’ve got earnings going into two different accounts. I’ve got absolutely no idea how much money I’m earning. That needs to change immediately. Full disclosure: my CPA has been telling me to do this for years.
I also have no project management system. I have a list of projects with deadline dates but no details. I have to go back to emails to find them. I need to fix that too.
I miss LSS. Even though I am happy with my decision, I have survivor’s guilt for leaving and I worry about my team and my peers. I’ve checked in multiple times this week and they’ve checked in with me. I hope we do stay in touch but I also hope that I can find a way to keep living their mission. I was proud to work there and I want to continue to give back to the community. I sent an email on my last day that included some of the experiences I’ve had while working there, all of them so unique to LSS. I will miss the LSS Way.
I need to work on local networking. None of my clients are local. That has been fine up until now but I think to be successful, I need to start promoting myself locally. I don’t even know where to start there but I’ve already got memberships in a couple of organizations that I think will help. Networking is not my favorite thing to do but it is necessary. I also need to look into co-working space so I don’t turn into a hermit. Hold me accountable. I’ll do it.
I need to create a brand for myself and I have no idea where to start. I launched a new brand for LSS and have worked on clients’ brand messaging multiple times but for my own brand, I am stuck.
There you have it. My lessons for my first week of freelancing. I hope next week will be as rewarding as this one. I’m ready for it!
Kathy Oberle