To freelance or not to freelance...
Working freelance is a common choice for people working in the creative industries. It works well for some, less well for others, and for lots of people it’s a choice simply because full-time work doesn’t feel possible.
3min read
Freelance. High day rates. Time off. Yay, all sounds great.
But then there’s also the no sick pay, no holiday pay, and the ever-present uncertainty over when work will come your way.
There’s upsides and downsides, rationally speaking.
And for a long time I’ve thought being freelance is how I want it. It’s my choice, but I’ve chosen it because I need it, not because I necessarily want it.
It would be nice to work everyday with people who, over time, become friends. Being at work is, after all, one of the most common places to find both friendship and love.
It would be nice have people around who I feel I can learn from.
It would be nice to have more of a structure to my days.
It would be nice to have more stability.
Those things would be nice.
But I feel I need to have times off where I’m not working, for my stress to dissipate. Evenings and weekends just don’t feel enough.
I feel I need to be able to take afternoon naps, because my body is so tired, so being flexible in the hours I work suits me.
And I want to able to work from wherever I want to - be it at home or in a cafe - without the high pressure environment that often comes with a full-time job.
So it is a choice.
But it’s a choice based on need, not on want.
Saying that, i’m not complaining about having lots of time off… I’m trying to work on spending more time enjoying the time off and not using it to only de-stress.
