How much work will you take on?

This headline might give some people pause about hiring me someday, but I've realized that there are some lines in my work life that I won't cross. 

I am proud to work full-time for UB and their needs are the top of my list of things to do, but luckily for me there is an end to the work day.  I still check social and things like that but that's not necessarily "work" in the grand scheme of things. I like to help people. 

So, my freelance life starts after 6pm during the week and takes over on the weekends. I usually have a couple of clients to manage and so I have fun things to work on all the time.  I also do a lot of volunteering.  Even though I'm busy, I always respond to client queries.  You never know how something new can fit into the current list of projects and sometimes I learn something that helps everyone. 

Recently I was asked to take an editing test for a potential client.  I really liked the idea of the work, it was going to be a lot of captioning of legal files and I am really good at captioning.  However, I've never worked for any legal firms and I have no clue about the formatting they wanted. They sent very few instructions and expected me to figure it out. It dawned on me about an hour into this formatting challenge that if they were not interested in helping me succeed then I didn't need to work for them. I asked one question and was told I had all the information I needed. Since I did not, I won't be working for them in the future. 

Another potential client asked me to draft some blog posts for them and asked for images to accompany the text. When I asked how to add alt text to their CMS, they told me not worry about it. I sent them a link to the WCAG standards and removed myself from consideration.  I won't support any website not interested in accessibility.

So, my original question. How much work will you take on? I'll take on any project that won't harm my current clients, that won't exhaust me so that I can't do my regular job, and where I can learn as I go and have training or support if needed. 

ASL

 American Sign Language (ASL) is something that I started to do last year before COVID. My husband is interested in ministry to the deaf community, so he really needs to learn it.  I'm just fascinated with how people learn to communicate. 

As part of our lessons, we are learning signs associated with the Catholic Mass. So, I'm saving this link here for my future reference. Maybe it will help you too! 

Our Father at OKScribbler. 

My one sheet printable version (not an accessible PDF)

Hello November

I see you November, hanging out just past Halloween.  I'm getting all of the NaNoWriMo emails. I'm seeing Christmas decorations in the stores.  I cannot believe we are here right now. 

It has been a busy fall.  Empty nesting is not quiet.  All of the invitations that we pushed to the fall, when we expected to have free time, meant that we had no free time as the weeks rolled.  And as the holidays start to kick in I realize I still have books to read, and projects to knit, and rooms to clean out.

On a bright note, my aunt's book is in the final proof stage, I've emptied a room completely in my house and will be re-purposing it to empty many other boxes around my house, I "think" I have a plan for several other projects and I just welcomed a new client to my freelance business. 

What do you still have left to do this year?

Evolution

Recently I think I started a transition and now that I'm in the thick of things, I'm not quite sure when it started.  When people talk about time flying, it usually means that milestones stack up with very few unique markers breaking them up.  If you have children your signposts are probably the start of school, the winter holidays, spring break, and the last day of school.  Then a short summer and do it again.  Rinse, repeat.

Now that my kids are grown, I'm finding different markers in my life.  Some of these are sad (co-workers get new jobs, friends move away, death comes too soon) but many offer the potential for happiness. I am overwhelmed with the possibilities and find myself trying to decide where I go next.  My client shifting has opened up a ton of free time for me.  My kids moving out means I have lots of extra space to spread out for new projects. My bookshelf is full.  It's almost too much freedom after being so structured for so long.

While I hem and haw about the next "big thing" I've decided to help my aunt get her book published, to help my Dad sort through his house and to clear out the project pile in my workroom.  Each one of those activities will teach me a new skill that might open up more freelancing and will help me come to peace with my middle age.  My mom's passing showed me how a lack of planning impacts the next generation, I'm not doing that to my kids if I can help it. 

Culling client list

I made one of the hardest decisions any freelancer can make yesterday. I terminated a client contract.

This client connected with me almost three years ago, he had seen my work via a friend of his and he wanted me to work for him.  I had pretty steady work with his company until several months ago when he changed the terms of the workflow. There were now additional steps that he wanted for each of the completed projects in order to consider them finished.  These tasks doubled the amount of time I was spending on his work, but there was no noticeable change to my compensation.

When I sat down to do my taxes and realized how much time I was spending on his company I realized that I was losing ground.  My freelance business is a small part of my week compared to all of the other things that I do, so I need to make every hour count to justify taking that time away from my family.

I sent a request to update my profile with his company to change the types of projects I was being asked to complete and the result was a complete lack of work for two weeks. 

Thus, I decided to end the working relationship.  This is a really hard choice for a freelancer to make. There is always a fear about not being able to replace the client. However, at this point in my professional career, I know that I am worth what I charge.

Freelance Growth

So, 2015 was my best freelance year since 1998.

1998 is when I went back to work full-time so that I could stop working night/weekends and spend time with my family.  Most of the work from 1998-2014 were special projects that I did when tuition was due or when there was a conference in Buffalo etc.  Then last year my family got so busy that I had a lot of free nights and weekends to work at home again.

So, now I balance my full-time job with a lot of really interesting freelance projects.  The internet has created opportunities for me that I never could have imagined when I started to phase away from doing that freelance stuff full-time. Now I can see huge potential in the future and I'm really excited about where it is going. 

May flowers

Had fun visting Mischler's Florist at the end of April to get flowers for the front yard and the diaconate luncheon. Primroses were on sale and they were gorgeous.  The rabbits have enjoyed all of the ones I planted in the front yard, so I hope they rebound OK. Daffodils are blooming so we have some color all around.

I was able to share the daffodils with my Uncle Steve before he passed last weekend. They really did brighten up the room. We lost him on May 4, which was odd considering the Big Bang Theory episode last week about Sheldon coping with a death on Star Wars Day. I'm not really sure I want to start finding clues to my destiny in random tv episodes, but that hit awfully close to home.

With his illness and the diaconate needs, I really have had no time to read or do any other activities around the house. I really need to finish Maggie's dress too. Time is slipping away.

Three more books under the bridge though. The most fun was Red Shirts by John Scalzi. I love that concept from Star Trek and it was a brilliant take on the idea. Also read The Alloy of Law from Brandon Sanderson (a mistborn book) which was OK and the Druggist of Auschiwitz by Dieter Schelsak. It was a sad take on the "medical" side of the concentration camp.

Reading in 2014

My life flies. Totally on full speed in this phase of my life between working, kids, family needs and sports.  But, at the same time, I can always have a book tucked in my purse for five minutes of downtime. I'm going to keep track of the books I read this year in this blog. Perhaps it will get me to blog more often :)

Since January 1, I have read:

World War Z by Max Brooks
2 b r 0 2 b (short story by Kurt Vonnegut)
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
War Wives by Helen Bryan

Am currently reading:
Kenobi by John Miller
Necromancer by William Gibson

On deck:
The River of Doubt (Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey) by Candice Miller
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

And as long as I was reviewing my Kindle to check out the author names, I took at look back at 2013. I think the Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis was one of my favorite books last year. Freakonomics was also pretty interesting. And I'm pretty happy I'm on track for at least one book a week in 2014.