Showing posts with label freelancing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freelancing. Show all posts
Sunday, May 22, 2016
I finally finished!
Friday, December 4, 2015
Grateful Today
There are days that I forget just how good I have it. Working as an independent contractor has a lot of pros and cons, like it's always feast or famine. For some reason I always seem to focus on the downside of things.
But today, I'm grateful for the way things have turned out. It may not be ideal, but it allows me to have a flexible schedule, and that schedule today allowed me to drive a personal friend to Dallas for a medical treatment. In any normal J.O.B. I would have to ask for the day off, use personal or vacation days in order to help my friend out. So today, at least for today, I'm focusing on something positive abouty situation. Today I am grateful.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Time Management 101
How do you strike a balance between work and family, especially when you work from home? In this blog post I will share a few ideas that have worked for me, as well as analyze why it's so difficult, especially in the case of the work at home parent...
The Problem
From my perspective, the problem comes in primarily because we work from home. It's a lot different when you leave the house for 8 to 10 hours a day to work from an office or other away from home facility. Even then people have difficulty sometimes in separating work from their home life, and many even allow the job to take over their lives (i.e., the all-demanding boss becomes the dictator of all of your time). However, the issue seems to actually be compounded when we work from home. Here, every time I check my email there is a chance I will receive a work-related message. Every ring of the telephone could be a client calling about a job. Instead of having at least a physical barrier to help us distinguish work from home, we've actually made the conscious decision to work from home! While this creates a challenging situation in the best of times, during the summer and other breaks from school it can become overwhelming as everything seems to be happening at the home front all at once.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is important for anyone working from home, even more so than someone who works outside the home. In fact, it can be one of the best time management tools for the work at home parent. Let's put it this way ... if you work at home, you had better set some goals, or you will never know if and when you have accomplished what you set out to do! Take the time to think about what you really want out of life and what it will cost you in terms of your time and commitment. Then, you have to decide what is most important. Put your time emphasis on those things that are most important to you! Look, you only live once and your kids will only be kids one time around. If you spend every waking moment working, whether for yourself or for 'the man', you'll wake up one day to find that you may or may not have achieved your financial goals, but your children will be long gone. This doesn't mean they will hate you or not have any respect for you ... but more than likely the whole reason you decided to work from home will have been lost - forever.
I know for me the goal of working from home has always been two-fold. First, it has never really been about the money. I'm always learning new ways to make a living from home and I'm sure my income will continue to increase. However, it is and probably will always be less than I could make as a manager in a corporate environment. I should know. I've been there, done that. So why am I working from home? My goals have always been fairly simple, even though sometimes I lose sight of them fairly easily.
It's My Time, Isn't It?
First and foremost I have always wanted more control of my time. Nothing irritated me more than having to ask for approval to take a day off or to take vacation time that I earned. I was always resentful of the ever-shifting lunch break. Sometimes it would be at the same time, sometimes my boss would suddenly call a lunch meeting literally minutes before I was heading out the door. What would have been a pleasant picnic lunch at the park suddenly became a mandatory lunch meeting will all the company yes men and lackeys. What shift I worked, where I worked, and when I could go to lunch, break, and vacations - all of these things were determined by my boss. It always felt like I had no real control over my own time. So, my first goal in working from home was a selfish one, but I wanted control back of my time. It is easy to lose sight of this goal, especially when working from home. As a freelance professional, suddenly the clients have a direct line to my home, to my personal email, right into my life! But before I share a solution with you regarding this first goal, let's take a look at what is probably the second most common goal for parents who decide to work from home.
Are Those My Kids?
Sometimes when we work away from home we get the feeling that we don't know our own family. We can grow distant from our spouse and especially from our kids. I know for me when I worked as a manager in a plastics factory my days were very long and that was part of the expectation that came with the territory. Most of the time my children were still in bed when I left for work and there were many days that they were already in bed when I got home. On some occasions they would stay up late just to kiss me goodnight as soon as I walked in the door, then off to bed they went! I found myself wondering who these kids really were. After all, I had no idea ... I simply wasn't taking the time to get to know them!
So another goal of working from home for me involved getting to spend some time with my children. Now, I will admit that this hasn't been all roses, as you no doubt will concede if you work from home. The ideal situation is far from reality, especially when the children are smaller, which has been my experience thus far. I have three children all currently under the age of eight, so they are starving for attention and would love to have the opportunity to monopolize my entire day if I were to let them. However, this would be counter-productive too, right? After all, if Daddy doesn't work the bills don't get paid! So there is a fine line here that demands our attention. We don't want to fall into the trap of allowing our children, who are now co-habitating with us in the "office", to monopolize all of our time so that we get nothing else done. By the same token, we don't want to end up working 24/7 so that despite the fact that we are working from home we still never spend any time with the family! So what is the solution? There is one simple thing that has worked for me. It is not without it's own set of problems, but it has helped dramatically in setting boundaries for me while working from home. It is the schedule, or the work calendar.
The Work At Home Schedule
So how does it work? It's simple really - you just have to take the place of your boss! Set yourself a schedule and a limit to how many hours you will work each week. Make a commitment to your clients that you will be available for a certain number of days each week and then for specific hours of each day. Now, be flexible - after all, you did decide to work from home to get back some control of your time, right? I'll share with you part of my schedule so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Officially, my work day starts at 12:00 noon and ends at 8:00 p.m. Yep, that's right. First off, I've decided that I like to sleep in. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really, not when you work from home! Next, I work straight through lunch and breaks. I don't smoke, but even if I did I would probably do it from my desk rather than go outside. I do use the restroom (why do we call it that?) and make a "tea run" to the kitchen every so often. However, breaks always used to irritate me at work. They came at inopportune times and always seemed to interfere with my thought process and work flow. So, since I'm working from home, I cut them out. As for lunch, I usually eat before I start working and if I decide I want a small snack during the work hours, I'm lucky enough to have a lovely wife to fix me something I can eat while working through lunch. On some days I will take a lunch, but guess what? It's entirely up to me!
This schedule allows me to spend some personal time alone in the mornings as well as spend some time with the family. In addition, after work I can spend some time (although less during school months) with the children as well. However, most of the evening time after my officially scheduled work hours I allow for time with my wife or time on personal projects, whether they be income related or other areas of interests (read: hobbies). The only kicker here is that if I get too carried away in the evenings I sometimes stay up waaay to late. Oh, well I guess that's ok because I do get to sleep in.
Finally, it's up to me what days of the week I work and when I take a vacation. As a freelance professional, I have found that most clients are respectful of this concept. After all, I did decide to work from home for a reason, right? For me, Saturdays are always off limits. We observe a seventh-day Sabbath and so we don't do any work related stuff from Friday night at sundown to Saturday night at sundown. For many people, Sunday would be their day of religious observance. Others may not have any such preference at all. Whatever your view on this point is doesn't really matter, as long as you set aside what days you will have off - no matter what. You have to make time to take time off, or working from home will take over your life. It can be worse than a job if you're not careful You thought your old boss could be a hard task-master, wait until you meet your own dark side! So for me, Monday through Friday are the standard work days. I do work on Sundays, on occasion, however I fully reserve the right to take every Sunday off.
As for vacations, most clients don't care when you take vacation - just be sure and notify them ahead of time that you are going to be out of the "office". Working from home, I find that vacation time is more a function of me having the money saved up to do something or go somewhere. After all, since I'm working for myself from home, I don't have the luxury of a 'paid vacation' benefit. I have to make sure I budget appropriately and set aside enough money so that once or twice a year I can take time off without feeling the pinch of no money for a week.
Conclusion
I know this has been a long post, but I'm hoping you really got something out of this. Just to recap, I want to go over the things that have helped me manage my time better while working from home.
The Problem
From my perspective, the problem comes in primarily because we work from home. It's a lot different when you leave the house for 8 to 10 hours a day to work from an office or other away from home facility. Even then people have difficulty sometimes in separating work from their home life, and many even allow the job to take over their lives (i.e., the all-demanding boss becomes the dictator of all of your time). However, the issue seems to actually be compounded when we work from home. Here, every time I check my email there is a chance I will receive a work-related message. Every ring of the telephone could be a client calling about a job. Instead of having at least a physical barrier to help us distinguish work from home, we've actually made the conscious decision to work from home! While this creates a challenging situation in the best of times, during the summer and other breaks from school it can become overwhelming as everything seems to be happening at the home front all at once.
Goal Setting
Goal setting is important for anyone working from home, even more so than someone who works outside the home. In fact, it can be one of the best time management tools for the work at home parent. Let's put it this way ... if you work at home, you had better set some goals, or you will never know if and when you have accomplished what you set out to do! Take the time to think about what you really want out of life and what it will cost you in terms of your time and commitment. Then, you have to decide what is most important. Put your time emphasis on those things that are most important to you! Look, you only live once and your kids will only be kids one time around. If you spend every waking moment working, whether for yourself or for 'the man', you'll wake up one day to find that you may or may not have achieved your financial goals, but your children will be long gone. This doesn't mean they will hate you or not have any respect for you ... but more than likely the whole reason you decided to work from home will have been lost - forever.
I know for me the goal of working from home has always been two-fold. First, it has never really been about the money. I'm always learning new ways to make a living from home and I'm sure my income will continue to increase. However, it is and probably will always be less than I could make as a manager in a corporate environment. I should know. I've been there, done that. So why am I working from home? My goals have always been fairly simple, even though sometimes I lose sight of them fairly easily.
It's My Time, Isn't It?
First and foremost I have always wanted more control of my time. Nothing irritated me more than having to ask for approval to take a day off or to take vacation time that I earned. I was always resentful of the ever-shifting lunch break. Sometimes it would be at the same time, sometimes my boss would suddenly call a lunch meeting literally minutes before I was heading out the door. What would have been a pleasant picnic lunch at the park suddenly became a mandatory lunch meeting will all the company yes men and lackeys. What shift I worked, where I worked, and when I could go to lunch, break, and vacations - all of these things were determined by my boss. It always felt like I had no real control over my own time. So, my first goal in working from home was a selfish one, but I wanted control back of my time. It is easy to lose sight of this goal, especially when working from home. As a freelance professional, suddenly the clients have a direct line to my home, to my personal email, right into my life! But before I share a solution with you regarding this first goal, let's take a look at what is probably the second most common goal for parents who decide to work from home.
Are Those My Kids?
Sometimes when we work away from home we get the feeling that we don't know our own family. We can grow distant from our spouse and especially from our kids. I know for me when I worked as a manager in a plastics factory my days were very long and that was part of the expectation that came with the territory. Most of the time my children were still in bed when I left for work and there were many days that they were already in bed when I got home. On some occasions they would stay up late just to kiss me goodnight as soon as I walked in the door, then off to bed they went! I found myself wondering who these kids really were. After all, I had no idea ... I simply wasn't taking the time to get to know them!
So another goal of working from home for me involved getting to spend some time with my children. Now, I will admit that this hasn't been all roses, as you no doubt will concede if you work from home. The ideal situation is far from reality, especially when the children are smaller, which has been my experience thus far. I have three children all currently under the age of eight, so they are starving for attention and would love to have the opportunity to monopolize my entire day if I were to let them. However, this would be counter-productive too, right? After all, if Daddy doesn't work the bills don't get paid! So there is a fine line here that demands our attention. We don't want to fall into the trap of allowing our children, who are now co-habitating with us in the "office", to monopolize all of our time so that we get nothing else done. By the same token, we don't want to end up working 24/7 so that despite the fact that we are working from home we still never spend any time with the family! So what is the solution? There is one simple thing that has worked for me. It is not without it's own set of problems, but it has helped dramatically in setting boundaries for me while working from home. It is the schedule, or the work calendar.
The Work At Home Schedule
So how does it work? It's simple really - you just have to take the place of your boss! Set yourself a schedule and a limit to how many hours you will work each week. Make a commitment to your clients that you will be available for a certain number of days each week and then for specific hours of each day. Now, be flexible - after all, you did decide to work from home to get back some control of your time, right? I'll share with you part of my schedule so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
Officially, my work day starts at 12:00 noon and ends at 8:00 p.m. Yep, that's right. First off, I've decided that I like to sleep in. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really, not when you work from home! Next, I work straight through lunch and breaks. I don't smoke, but even if I did I would probably do it from my desk rather than go outside. I do use the restroom (why do we call it that?) and make a "tea run" to the kitchen every so often. However, breaks always used to irritate me at work. They came at inopportune times and always seemed to interfere with my thought process and work flow. So, since I'm working from home, I cut them out. As for lunch, I usually eat before I start working and if I decide I want a small snack during the work hours, I'm lucky enough to have a lovely wife to fix me something I can eat while working through lunch. On some days I will take a lunch, but guess what? It's entirely up to me!
This schedule allows me to spend some personal time alone in the mornings as well as spend some time with the family. In addition, after work I can spend some time (although less during school months) with the children as well. However, most of the evening time after my officially scheduled work hours I allow for time with my wife or time on personal projects, whether they be income related or other areas of interests (read: hobbies). The only kicker here is that if I get too carried away in the evenings I sometimes stay up waaay to late. Oh, well I guess that's ok because I do get to sleep in.
Finally, it's up to me what days of the week I work and when I take a vacation. As a freelance professional, I have found that most clients are respectful of this concept. After all, I did decide to work from home for a reason, right? For me, Saturdays are always off limits. We observe a seventh-day Sabbath and so we don't do any work related stuff from Friday night at sundown to Saturday night at sundown. For many people, Sunday would be their day of religious observance. Others may not have any such preference at all. Whatever your view on this point is doesn't really matter, as long as you set aside what days you will have off - no matter what. You have to make time to take time off, or working from home will take over your life. It can be worse than a job if you're not careful You thought your old boss could be a hard task-master, wait until you meet your own dark side! So for me, Monday through Friday are the standard work days. I do work on Sundays, on occasion, however I fully reserve the right to take every Sunday off.
As for vacations, most clients don't care when you take vacation - just be sure and notify them ahead of time that you are going to be out of the "office". Working from home, I find that vacation time is more a function of me having the money saved up to do something or go somewhere. After all, since I'm working for myself from home, I don't have the luxury of a 'paid vacation' benefit. I have to make sure I budget appropriately and set aside enough money so that once or twice a year I can take time off without feeling the pinch of no money for a week.
Conclusion
I know this has been a long post, but I'm hoping you really got something out of this. Just to recap, I want to go over the things that have helped me manage my time better while working from home.
- Set Goals - why are you working from home? Put every work decision into perspective in light of these goals. For me it was more control over personal time and more time with the family. If your goals are similar, then set boundaries around these things and protect them from your work!
- Scheduling Calendar - Set a work schedule, and stick to it! This will help you keep a balance between work and play. Before I had a schedule I had weeks were I would not get any work done. Other weeks I would flip-flop the other direction and work my butt off, but never see my family. Having a daily schedule and weekly set-in-stone "off" days has allowed me to be more productive and to ensure time with my family.
- Enjoy Yourself - This one wasn't covered earlier, so consider this a bonus - your reward if you will - for reading this far into the blog post! Anyway, you have to enjoy yourself. You were miserable at work at a regular job, right (most people anyway)? So why be miserable at home? Find something that you enjoy doing, and do it from home to make money. I can't stress enough the importance of being happy with your "work", especially now that it takes place in your home. Before, you could make the effort to leave your work problems at work. Now, the live with you. So enjoy yourself, enjoy your work and enjoy your family!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Balancing Priorities and Keeping It Real
Well, it's been over a week since I posted my 'average Joe' post. Geez ... that was depressing, wasn't it? Sorry, just keeping it real ... even in what some would call a great situation (ie, working from home) there are still times when things just don't gel right. Can't explain it, probably never will be able to.
But, for anyone who's interested, I'm moving past that now.
Still working full time, trying to build my little Internet empire and diversify my income all while taking time out for myself and my family. The balancing of priorities with someone who wants more out of life can be truly exhausting. Will it be worth it in the end? I think so ...
So, what am I doing now? Well, I'm still writing search engine pages and I recently picked up a somewhat paid blogging gig with Today.com. I'll be posting a link to that blog here soon. I'm also starting another blog that caters to a niche that I am interested in ... and I'm trying to relax by doing some reading, and eventually, some writing of my own (again).
So there you have it ... see you on the flip side, 'average joe' ;-)
But, for anyone who's interested, I'm moving past that now.
Still working full time, trying to build my little Internet empire and diversify my income all while taking time out for myself and my family. The balancing of priorities with someone who wants more out of life can be truly exhausting. Will it be worth it in the end? I think so ...
So, what am I doing now? Well, I'm still writing search engine pages and I recently picked up a somewhat paid blogging gig with Today.com. I'll be posting a link to that blog here soon. I'm also starting another blog that caters to a niche that I am interested in ... and I'm trying to relax by doing some reading, and eventually, some writing of my own (again).
So there you have it ... see you on the flip side, 'average joe' ;-)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Independence Day
OK, maybe it's not Independence Day for the rest of the country yet, but today is Independence Day for me! It was one year ago today that I decided that I had enough of the bullying boss that I used to work for and walked out of the company I was employed with.
It was a tough decision, to be sure. With only a few months' worth of income set aside, I made the giant leap into the unknown. It's been a rough and bumpy ride, but worth every minute of it.
I still struggle with diversification. As a freelance professional I see "success" with any single company as just another form of a J-O-B. I think diversification for any self-employed person is critical to their ultimate success and freedom, allowing them to still call the shots.
One final thought on this Independence Day ... you can do anything that you set your mind to do. If you are still struggling with a big decision, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get moving!
It was a tough decision, to be sure. With only a few months' worth of income set aside, I made the giant leap into the unknown. It's been a rough and bumpy ride, but worth every minute of it.
I still struggle with diversification. As a freelance professional I see "success" with any single company as just another form of a J-O-B. I think diversification for any self-employed person is critical to their ultimate success and freedom, allowing them to still call the shots.
One final thought on this Independence Day ... you can do anything that you set your mind to do. If you are still struggling with a big decision, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get moving!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Spring Break Recap: Work at Home Hell Week
Well, spring break is over for our family. Last week was, to say the least, the most challenging week since I've been working from home. While I did start this work from home adventure last June, it was well after school started before I found a regular paying gig that constituted steady work. We lived off of savings for several months while I searched for the right "fit".
So last week really constituted our first attempt to all co-habitate AND work together all at the same time. Three kids at home all day became a very challenging scenario indeed. Even though my wife was here to help, we both about went crazy trying to work (her part time, me full time) and corral the kids at the same time. It was by far my worst and most unproductive week thus far working from home.
Of course, this brings up an important issue. How will I cope with working from home during the summer? I attempted a different schedule during spring break. I tried a late evening shift, sleeping in during the morning hours and spending time with the kids in the afternoons. Unfortunately, I never slept in as much as I would have liked, the kids wore me out in the afternoons, and I found myself tired and lagging during the evenings, sometimes unable to complete my intended schedule. That shift sure didn't work.
All I know is that I'm glad spring break is over. I can easily say that it was hell week here at home "sweet" home.
So last week really constituted our first attempt to all co-habitate AND work together all at the same time. Three kids at home all day became a very challenging scenario indeed. Even though my wife was here to help, we both about went crazy trying to work (her part time, me full time) and corral the kids at the same time. It was by far my worst and most unproductive week thus far working from home.
Of course, this brings up an important issue. How will I cope with working from home during the summer? I attempted a different schedule during spring break. I tried a late evening shift, sleeping in during the morning hours and spending time with the kids in the afternoons. Unfortunately, I never slept in as much as I would have liked, the kids wore me out in the afternoons, and I found myself tired and lagging during the evenings, sometimes unable to complete my intended schedule. That shift sure didn't work.
All I know is that I'm glad spring break is over. I can easily say that it was hell week here at home "sweet" home.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
I did it again, didn't I? Updates and more ...
OK, it hasn't been 3 months yet ... but almost. I really need to take some time to focus on this blog every once in a while. This is most disgraceful - especially for a self-proclaimed "writer"!
Well, things on the work at home front are going well! I have managed to get a regular schedule going, and I'm working full time now with an online company! That's one of the reasons (ahem, no excuses here) that I've let this blog slip. In addition, I've started doing some additional research into Internet marketing, RSS and blogs, and traffic generation. I'll probably cover this more in another post - I do want to share some of the great stuff I get to do - there's a social side to it, and I want to invite you to my join as my friend! ;-)
I've come to a simple conclusion: it's time to get on the social networking bandwagon, or get off the road! About 5 years ago I read a great article about the future of the Internet, and what was going to drive all of our traffic: blogs, RSS, and pings. Well, I sat on my duff for several years, and caught the tail end of the wave. Sure, all of those things are there, and they still work, but not like they did when they first hit the net!
So what's the moral of my story? Social networking is all the rage NOW. Reviews are in, projections are out ... it IS the next wave of Internet traffic driving phenomenon. Now, this would apply very broadly to Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, even YouTube and the like. There has been some discussion that even some of these sites are beginning to bog down - a result of which is the loss of "value" for the average user.
Take Technorati, for example. When it first came out, and for a year or so after that, it was a great resource! However, since the minions of black-hat marketers have been spamming the heck out of it, it has pretty much been overloaded with spammy blogs, etc. So it's usefulness for the average user has plummeted. It seems that has been the downfall of almost every single Internet resource ... after a period of time.
So the biggest advice I can give is this: look for the early warning signs of something taking off - and get on board! It's not about spamming, it's not about screwing people, it's not even about big business. But any business has to have traffic - even a brick and mortar store. So, go to where the traffic is, and invite them in! The cardinal rule, however, still applies: you must provide something of value - or they will NEVER come back.
Well, things on the work at home front are going well! I have managed to get a regular schedule going, and I'm working full time now with an online company! That's one of the reasons (ahem, no excuses here) that I've let this blog slip. In addition, I've started doing some additional research into Internet marketing, RSS and blogs, and traffic generation. I'll probably cover this more in another post - I do want to share some of the great stuff I get to do - there's a social side to it, and I want to invite you to my join as my friend! ;-)
I've come to a simple conclusion: it's time to get on the social networking bandwagon, or get off the road! About 5 years ago I read a great article about the future of the Internet, and what was going to drive all of our traffic: blogs, RSS, and pings. Well, I sat on my duff for several years, and caught the tail end of the wave. Sure, all of those things are there, and they still work, but not like they did when they first hit the net!
So what's the moral of my story? Social networking is all the rage NOW. Reviews are in, projections are out ... it IS the next wave of Internet traffic driving phenomenon. Now, this would apply very broadly to Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, even YouTube and the like. There has been some discussion that even some of these sites are beginning to bog down - a result of which is the loss of "value" for the average user.
Take Technorati, for example. When it first came out, and for a year or so after that, it was a great resource! However, since the minions of black-hat marketers have been spamming the heck out of it, it has pretty much been overloaded with spammy blogs, etc. So it's usefulness for the average user has plummeted. It seems that has been the downfall of almost every single Internet resource ... after a period of time.
So the biggest advice I can give is this: look for the early warning signs of something taking off - and get on board! It's not about spamming, it's not about screwing people, it's not even about big business. But any business has to have traffic - even a brick and mortar store. So, go to where the traffic is, and invite them in! The cardinal rule, however, still applies: you must provide something of value - or they will NEVER come back.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Will you forgive me?
I can't believe it's been over three months since I posted on this blog. Wow how time flies when we let it get away from us. Well, can you ever forgive me ... if "you" are even out there? I am back now, although I never physically left ...
It is good to work from home, but it is challenging. You really have to work to define your work time, and if you don't have a schedule one of two very different things can happen to you! First, you might end up not working enough to get the job done ... you will use the 'poke it with a stick' method and try to accomplish a lot with too little of a time commitment. The second thing that can happen is the 'workaholic' syndrome - you work all the time. You begin to neglect your family and friends and any social life you might have had in the past. It becomes all about your work and getting more done ... after all, when you are your own boss there is no one there to tell you to take a break or lunch, right?
Until next time ... stay focused and think big!
It is good to work from home, but it is challenging. You really have to work to define your work time, and if you don't have a schedule one of two very different things can happen to you! First, you might end up not working enough to get the job done ... you will use the 'poke it with a stick' method and try to accomplish a lot with too little of a time commitment. The second thing that can happen is the 'workaholic' syndrome - you work all the time. You begin to neglect your family and friends and any social life you might have had in the past. It becomes all about your work and getting more done ... after all, when you are your own boss there is no one there to tell you to take a break or lunch, right?
Until next time ... stay focused and think big!
Monday, July 23, 2007
A Day In The Life Of ...
Ever wonder what a day in the life of a SAHD WAHD looks like (OK that acronym wasn't funny!)? Well, I thought I would share with you what my day was like today. I'm sure that every stay and home dad and work at home dad has a vast and different experience, but I have always been intrigued, and I though you might be intrigued as well.
So, here's what happened at my house today.
Come back tomorrow, and perhaps we'll have another chance to visit.
So, here's what happened at my house today.
- 7:30 AM - Kids woke up. They are now my alarm clock.
- 8:30 AM - Watched 'Home on The Range' with the kids on DVD. We promised them we would watch it with them last night.
- 10:00 AM - OK, this is when I actually started 'working', if you can really call it that. I have a writing assignment that I started last night, and should finish up today.
- 12:00 Noon - Time for lunch. Spent more time with the kids. Not like they were not here while I was writing, but my wife pretty much kept them occupied so dad could 'work'. Unfortunately, we really don't have a spare room to set up as an office, so the PC is in the corner of the living room. Sure, I can type in the middle of a three ring circus, can't you?
- 1:00 PM - Watched some NASA videos with my son. He is really into the space thing, so this was cool. It is one of my interests as well.
- 3:00 PM - OK, it's back to the grindstone ... well, actually the keyboard. I picked up a second writing assignment, so I can begin working on it as soon as I am done with this one. I missed a tech support assignment on the tech job board ... someone else picked it up while I was offline with the kids. Oh well, life's full of opportunities ... you just have to decide which ones are the most important.
- 5:30 PM - Dinner time. We take time to eat together, although it is usually in front of the boob tube. I guess it's better than nothing, but this is an area I would like to improve on.
- 7:30 PM - Back to the writing gig. The kids are in bed now (their bedtime is 7pm), which allows me much more coherent thoughts when doing creative writing (if it can be called that).
- 9:30 PM - Woo Hoo! I'm finished with my writing assignment for the day. After roughly six hours of work, I've completed 15 keyword articles for submission. I also received payment offers on two exclusive articles I submitted over at Associated Content. This makes the day a productive one.
- 10:00 PM - After a short break, I'm back online, going over my blogs (I currently have 5 semi-active blogs that I am trying to get in shape to qualify for an advertising program). I'm posting, posting, posting, trying to get everything in shape for the advertising market that's out there.
Come back tomorrow, and perhaps we'll have another chance to visit.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Time Flies When You're Freelancing
My, my, my ... how time flies when you are freelancing! It seems like it was just a few days ago when I posted last to the blog here. I'm really going to have to try harder to stay on top of things here.
I don't even know where I've been since we got back from the out of town trip. I've done quite a few articles for pay, including a nice news piece on the flooding in central Texas. I've gone out on another service call since last week, and I've done some independent system consulting as well.
All-in-all it's still a bit slower than I would like, although I have found another group of online sites to explore and add to my ever-expanding plethora of work-at-home freelancing sites. Most of these center around writing, as I like to write.
Scheduling is still an issue. I have yet (even after almost a month now) to nail down a good working schedule that I can keep on a consistent basis. If only I could do that, I feel like I would succeed in becoming a bit more organized with my writing plan. At this point I'm signed up to write for 4 organizations that will actually give you a list of content they are looking for, as well as accept non-solicited articles. In addition, I'm currently surfing the job boards of two bid-for-the-job freelance sites. The problem with these sites is that there is so much competition for these jobs from the overseas markets, that it looks like it is next to impossible for the American writer to make it worth their time, bidding so low that it amounts to less than minimum wage work.
OK, so much for catching up on what's happening since last week. I'll try to be more faithful and post here more often.
I don't even know where I've been since we got back from the out of town trip. I've done quite a few articles for pay, including a nice news piece on the flooding in central Texas. I've gone out on another service call since last week, and I've done some independent system consulting as well.
All-in-all it's still a bit slower than I would like, although I have found another group of online sites to explore and add to my ever-expanding plethora of work-at-home freelancing sites. Most of these center around writing, as I like to write.
Scheduling is still an issue. I have yet (even after almost a month now) to nail down a good working schedule that I can keep on a consistent basis. If only I could do that, I feel like I would succeed in becoming a bit more organized with my writing plan. At this point I'm signed up to write for 4 organizations that will actually give you a list of content they are looking for, as well as accept non-solicited articles. In addition, I'm currently surfing the job boards of two bid-for-the-job freelance sites. The problem with these sites is that there is so much competition for these jobs from the overseas markets, that it looks like it is next to impossible for the American writer to make it worth their time, bidding so low that it amounts to less than minimum wage work.
OK, so much for catching up on what's happening since last week. I'll try to be more faithful and post here more often.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
When It Rains ...
Have you ever noticed that when it rains, it pours? First, you have the weather. It's been raining here in Texas for days, weeks, months. OK, maybe not for months on end, but definitely for weeks. Last year we had a drought so bad that some cattle ranchers whose families had been in business for generations were put out of business. This year, we're planning a re-creation of Noah's ark.
This phenomenon also relates to faith. Since embarking on my journey into real manhood (read: stay-at-home fatherhood), I've been trying to get something going to generate income. I'm not independently wealthy, so a source of incoming funds to counter-balance the outgoing funds is pretty important. So, if we feel that the Lord is leading us, then it becomes a walk of faith to trust in God to bring in the work and our labor to complete the tasks.
So, for the first few weeks, nothing. Then, last week, the graphics job shows up. Yesterday we determined the scope of the job was larger than anticipated, and we get to increase the invoice amount. In addition, I finally got a tech support call lined up for tomorrow, and potentially a freelance gig for next week online! Finally, to top it all off, a guy came by yesterday and offered me what I was asking for an old '82 Chevy pick-up I've been trying to sell for a month. So, you see, when it rains, it pours.
It appears that while there will be times of testing, if we put our faith and trust in God, He will open the doors to provide for our needs.
This phenomenon also relates to faith. Since embarking on my journey into real manhood (read: stay-at-home fatherhood), I've been trying to get something going to generate income. I'm not independently wealthy, so a source of incoming funds to counter-balance the outgoing funds is pretty important. So, if we feel that the Lord is leading us, then it becomes a walk of faith to trust in God to bring in the work and our labor to complete the tasks.
So, for the first few weeks, nothing. Then, last week, the graphics job shows up. Yesterday we determined the scope of the job was larger than anticipated, and we get to increase the invoice amount. In addition, I finally got a tech support call lined up for tomorrow, and potentially a freelance gig for next week online! Finally, to top it all off, a guy came by yesterday and offered me what I was asking for an old '82 Chevy pick-up I've been trying to sell for a month. So, you see, when it rains, it pours.
It appears that while there will be times of testing, if we put our faith and trust in God, He will open the doors to provide for our needs.
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