Ugh. Thank heaven that Tuesday is my slow day, because I am as sick as the proverbial dog. My head is all fuzzy and everything I write has eleventy-billion typos that need fixing cause I can’t control my fingertips.
What if today were a Thursday, my busiest day? What if I didn’t have the option of pushing my projects to the backburner for a day or two while I get better? Tough shit, because freelancers don’t get sick days. If you are a stand-alone operation, like I am, you don’t have someone who can swoop in and rescue you for a few hours or a few days. I can’t afford to miss deadlines with my clients when I am just building this business of mine.
Which is why when I read this earlier today, I couldn’t help but get all weepy. I mean, yeah, I have personal reasons for getting weepy about it, too, but I also have professional ones. I have the flu – everyone gets it. This woman suffered far worse than that!
Can I, as a freelancer, allow myself to get into a situation no different than one I would have with a regular employer, i.e. risking my job and my income when real life hands me a curve ball? No. I’m already couch surfing with wonderful friends because I gambled with the gawdawful job market and I lost. I hope one day to have enough money to once more have a ZERO balance in my bank account, instead of the -$700 overdraft situation I am in right now.
Given the fact that I am a big believer in learning from others’ mistakes as well as my own, I think it’s time to start diversifying. Thank you Naomi, for suffering so that I, and others like me, may not have to.
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2 users responded in this post
Hey, hope you get better soon.
As a freelancer, I know how you feel, I try my best not to get sick – even going so far as not visiting sick friends just in case! And thank you for sharing the link to Naomi’s blog, those are powerful words and they deserve to be linked to and shared. Will be a regular visiter to that site – and this one
Man, do I hear you on that negative bank account balance — the hardest part about working to catch up is catching up with the bank.
And fantastic link; it’s a good look and why you can’t relax when things are getting good — when things are getting good, the real work just seems to start. So good luck on mixing up your eggs, and I hope you feel better. =D
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