Posted on:Self-Employment Writing

The ills and virtues of monetizing time

Before becoming self-employed, it never occurred to me to assign a dollar value to my time. I suppose that was probably to the advantage of my employers. When self-employed, however, it’s crucial. One you’re past the I’ll-take-every-assignment-that-comes-my-way-oh-god-please-don’t-let-me-starve phase, you absolutely have to know what your time is worth to assess whether an assignment is worth taking, which gigs have priority over others and which jobs (or clients) are simply sucking up too much of your time.

That said, there are traps one can become ensnared in after growing comfortable with the monetary value of one’s time.

You can undervalue the jobs that take longer and pay less, but are always there. Big paying jobs often come and go. Part of the monetary value of the hours spent on the “regular stuff” is made up for by not having to search out new work.

It’s easy to begin counting every hour of your life in monetary terms. Is going to the movies really worth it? Sitting there and losing money for two hours? Is taking a three-day weekend totally insane? If you add money lost per hour to the cost of getting away, you will literally never leave your house. And especially when you work from home, you really need leave your house sometimes.

Monetizing time overvalues efficiency and undervalues things like connecting with people in person, careful editing, making time to think creatively and exploring new ideas.

Again, not to get all contradictory or anything, but knowing the monetary value of your time is an absolute must. Knowing which hours to measure and why, however, is just as important.

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Posted on:General Life Whatnot Writing

Committing to ideas like Lois to a new friend

It was a pretty big day for Lois. On her morning walk with Mike to the place we call the Magical Toy Forest, she found an exciting new toy. Now, Lois find toys there all the time, hence the clever name. But today she found a particularly thrilling deflated white rubber soccer ball, and the two have been inseparable ever since.

Seriously. She wouldn’t put it down, so Mike let her carry it home. The two of them got so dirty playing together (Ball and Lois, not Lois and Mike) that she had to stay in the backyard for the next two hours – where they played together the whole time. Then Mike and I took her for a 45 minute walk. She brought Ball along, carrying him the whole way. Finally, I decided if she wasn’t going to put the disgusting thing down after four hours, I was just going to have to give the both of them a bath.

Now, they’re both clean, happily playing together.

Lois doesn’t do things halfway. I like that about her. Actually, I’m a little jealous of her. Sometimes I get an idea that I’m really excited about, that I’m really attached to, and simply because it’s so intense and overwhelming and if I give it an inch it will take up the next four hours of my life, I put it right down. I decide I’ll come back to it later. Why not, right? It’ll still be there.

It’s never as exciting though, to come back to super amazing idea later and break it into little, manageable chunks. I want to give myself permission to glom on to inspiration the way Lois glommed on to Ball. I want to refuse to put it down, even if it’s time to go home or time for a walk or time for a bath.

Sometimes being an adult human with a job makes that more difficult than it is for a 2-year-old dog whose main job is doing cute things her owners can put on the internet. But I’d like to think it’s possible.

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Posted on:Self-Employment Writing

Am I Working Hard Enough? The perpetual paranoia of the freelancer

The traditional American workplace has developed around making sure employees work hard enough, but not too hard. Labor laws give workers hourly limits; bosses provide accountability. For the typical employee, knowing if you’re working hard enough is as straightforward as waiting for a reprimand or the urge to sue your employer.

In the comparatively anarchic world of freelancing, insecurity over whether or not one is working hard enough causes many freelancers to work themselves into insanity. Maybe it’s the whole bit about only making as much money as you earn. Maybe it’s the tinge of guilt we feel from getting to work at home in our yoga pants. Whatever it is, I’ve noticed far more overworking than underworking from my peeps in the freelancing business.

I got caught up in overworking myself in my first years of freelancing, only stopping when when I would suddenly feel like my soul was bleeding. That’s not a fun way to live. But ever since conscientiously pulling back, I’ve walked around with this little guilt devil on my shoulder that constantly whispers in my ear, “Are you working hard enough? Shouldn’t you be working more? Couldn’t you be?”

That’s a surefire way to ruin a good mid-day dog walk or cancel your plans to go to the gym. Because I’m determined to make freelancing a sustainable career, it’s crucial that I’m able to make a living and avoid working my way through the things that make life fulfilling. What I’ve found is that while labor laws and looming bosses can’t be the productivity guardrails for freelancing, a series of indicators help keep me in balance. These are a few.

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