Only The Curious

Okay, this is not the follow-up post to my previous post about entrepreneurship vs. the 9-to-5. Sorry. I know I promised it like, a week ago, to be written the next day. And yes, Aly, I know you’re dying for the next installment. Mom and Barbara have been haranguing (how is that even supposed to be spelled? I’m a former spelling-bee champ, but I have no idea. And it’s Friday afternoon, so, no, I’m not going to go get the dictionary to look that one up,) me about it too. Sorry ladies. And everyone else. I’ll write it early next week. Finger-crossie promises.

It’s my blog. I can write about what I want.

And what do I want to write about?

I don’t know. Stress, I guess. It’s been a terribly. stressful. week. Which I didn’t know that you could have when there are neither bosses nor deadlines present in your life, and your family isn’t nearby, and your life is primarily filled with beautiful weather, bicycling, and your sweetheart.

Actually, I think I’m stressed because of the lack of both. As referenced in my post about why I need a boss, I find one of the biggest challenges to trying to start my own business/freelancing is being my own task master. (Okay, so I guess I am going to write about entrepreneurship today. Who knew?) It’s really a struggle for me to get stuff done. Like write promised blog posts. Or do things I know I need to do for my business but OH MY GOD LOOK AT THE LAWN. IT NEEDS TO BE MOWED. NOW. See?

Barbara Winter talks about this in her workshops. It’s really easy when you’re working form home to feel productive because you cleaned the entire house, organized the last 10 years’ tax documents, or made your sweetheart a gourmet dinner and mowed his lawn. (Not a metaphor. And yes, I’m really excited that the freaking lawnmower is fixed. Apparently.) But the reality is, you’re not working. You might be being productive, but it’s still just productive procrastination.

And hence, an entire week has gone by without an article written or a blog posted. I did a couple of interviews. And, admittedly, I had to deal with things like a broken car and spider infestation (hence the stress. Like whoa. SPIDERS. EVERYWHERE. IN MY BEDROOM. NOT OKAY.) and these things take up time and energy. Oh, and money. That I don’t have. More stress. (Shout-out to Jon: thanks for the help on the car, bro!)

But I also know my lack of work-related productivity is primarily due to the fact that I haven’t given myself a schedule, or an editorial calendar, or even written down goals. So, starting Monday, I’m going to try doing some of those things. Why not this weekend? Well, as luck would have it, there’s a wedding. No, not my wedding. (Karl, deep breaths.) And the rehearsal dinner is at Karl’s folks’ place. And I am now apparently coordinating it. So, little busy. Lots of fun. Also the World Cup starts like, now, so productivity is at a standstill until that’s no longer a novelty.

If you have ways to schedule, keep yourself on task, etc. I would love to hear them. Help me out readers, PLEASE SHARE! What do you do to manage your time and productivity?

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To be self-employed or to be an employee, that is the question. It’s a subject that I wrestle with frequently, because I understand the pros and cons of each, and have been on both sides multiple times over the last 5 years. If you look at my resume, you’ll see that I usually have an office job from October through May, and then am freelancing, doing massage, or maybe working part-time in a gourmet kitchen store over the summer. It hasn’t been intentional; several of those lapses were due to layoffs. But it is interesting. The one year that I had a job during the month of May, it took me weeks to figure out why I was so antsy. Then I realized “oh, this is the time of year where I’m usually sitting by the lake with books like “Making a Living Without a Job””

To be honest, my heart lies in the self-employment camp. Unfortunately, my need to pay for things like my car and my health insurance (funny thing happens when you don’t regularly hold an office job: you don’t get benefits. More on that later…) frequently land me back in an office job.

I could write out a list of all the reasons I prefer self-employment, but Everett Bogue did a pretty darn good job of that earlier this week in his post: “27 Reasons You Should Never Have a Job.” I LOVED IT.

The only thing I would add is this: when I tell people I’m self-employed, they’ll often say “oh I could never do that. I need more security. Isn’t it scary not knowing how much you’re going to make every month?” Um, sometimes. Yeah, there are dry months. But you know what scares me more? Knowing I’m only going to make X amount every month. When you’re self-employed, there is endless potential for growth. I don’t have to wait for incremental raises; my salary could double (or more) in a year because one of my income streams takes off. If there’s a trip I really want to go on or something I really want to buy, I just push for a few more clients. Voila, extra money.

Yes, being self-employed is volatile. You need to save more for the down times and it’s important to have supportive friends, family, and/or significant others. But for me, ultimately, the freedom, flexibility, creativity, and potential are overwhelmingly worth it.

That is not to say, however, that I think everyone should be self-employed. It’s not for the risk-averse, or those who need stability. As Matt Cheuvront said today, Don’t Discount the Value of a 9-to-5.

I will admit that, being self-employed, I’ve spent months being broke while trying to build one income stream or another. It’s stressful. It can be lonely. The thing I miss most about having an office job is the social aspect – having co-workers to grab lunch or hit happy hour with. Not to mention brainstorming. And yeah, the stability is nice.

There are reasons for both ways of working. What I think is most important, though, is the mindset you take to your work. You can’t go into business for yourself thinking like an employee, and yet the most successful employees are the ones who go to work thinking like an entrepreneur. More on that tomorrow.

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