And that made me realize how much waste exists in full-time jobs. I might put in a 10 hour day in the office and feel good about that. But there was the 90 minute lunch, the 60 minutes of hallway\/kitchen chatter and many other moments that I\u2019m not at my desk working.<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to find 5 hours of actual work time during that 10 hour day. In my freelancer arrangement, I\u2019m paid for just those 5 hours.<\/p>\n
Lately, there are days when I clock in less than 8 hours of work, but it feels like I spent the entire day working. I\u2019m telling you, the 6-hour day is the new 10-hour day \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n
Also, when I think of the statement, \u201cI had a good week,\u201d that means something different now. In full-time jobs, a good week was the completion of a project, especially one that was done well.<\/p>\n
These days, good weeks are also measured by how many hours I booked.<\/p>\n
Daily Schedule: Dictated by Me \ud83d\udcaa<\/h4>\n
Aside from scheduled meetings and deadlines, I dictate my schedule.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019m on the outside, I look at office jobs and find some of the conventions a bit silly. I wanted to arrive at my desk early in the morning and not leave the office until a certain time. If I was never at my desk, I know that colleagues would wonder where I was.<\/p>\n
These sorts of considerations don\u2019t exist in the freelance world. Get the job done for your client and they\u2019re happy. Doesn\u2019t matter if you worked on it at 12am, 12pm or anywhere in between, so long as it\u2019s complete and meets expectations.<\/p>\n
In my full-time roles, I\u2019d think about two modes: work-mode and non-work-mode. If I was responding to emails at 10pm at home, I\u2019d concede the need to shift into work-mode. As a freelancer, I\u2019m shifting back and forth and not even thinking about it.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/attention-retention.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/1eggq7NI5iOx3Upz1o7_R4w.jpeg\")
\nGrocery store at 11am? Sure, no problem.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, I\u2019m at the grocery store in the middle of the day and cooking dinner for the family at 3:30pm.<\/p>\n
To make dinner in the past, I\u2019d need to rush out at 5:30pm, grab some groceries, then start cooking at 6:15pm, while the hungry family waited.<\/p>\n
Note: I share cooking duties with my wife \u2014 didn\u2019t want you to think that I did all<\/strong> the cooking in the household.<\/p>\n These days, I find pockets of productive time between 9pm and 11pm, when the house is quiet and I\u2019m in a good mindset. Weekend mornings between 8am and 10am are similar.<\/p>\n Where I do my work is completely fluid.<\/p>\n My go-to spots include an office in the atrium of my house, the San Mateo Public Library, Le Boulanger and assorted Starbucks and Peet\u2019s stores.<\/p>\n I thought about paying for a co-working space, but find the \u201chopping around approach\u201d to be just fine and less costly.<\/p>\n My main overhead expenses are the food that I eat when \u201cin the office,\u201d and the parking meters \ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n For meetings with video conferencing, I take those at home, where there\u2019s a controlled sound and visual environment. I take some calls and meetings from my car, as it makes me feel efficient: I\u2019m getting work done while in transit.<\/p>\n Without compromising the quality of work on my current projects, I need to be thinking about landing the next one \u2014 or, at least putting myself out there to attract interest.<\/p>\n Over my 20+ year career, I\u2019ve worked with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people. Someone out there has a need I can fill. But they may not know I\u2019m available. I\u2019ve been at this freelance things for only a few months.<\/p>\n While I haven\u2019t directly pitched myself to people, I try and make my status known (e.g. \u201cmarketing consultant for hire\u201d on LinkedIn). I want people to think of me when they come across a new consulting or freelance opportunity where I\u2019d be a good fit.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been more active on LinkedIn lately, so that I\u2019m top of mind with my professional network.<\/p>\n After being laid off, the first thing I needed to do was buy a laptop.<\/p>\n I had a modest budget to start with, so I looked at Chromebooks. I found an Acer Chromebook 14 for a really nice price and bought it.<\/p>\n There are no local applications or local documents on a Chromebook. Everything is stored in Drive and applications are either a Chrome (browser) plugin or run from a web page.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a full G Suite convert, constantly using Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides (oh my!). This post was composed in Google Docs via the Chrome browser on my Chromebook.<\/p>\n I love that I can save G Suite documents as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, as those are formats my clients use and expect. One downside is that Google now knows more about me than ever \ud83d\ude1c<\/p>\n With freelance work, a project can last for 6 months or it can end tomorrow. The scope can change mid-way through.<\/p>\n It feels about right in the gig economy, subscription-based world that we live in.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s just it: I\u2019m MaaS, \u201cMarketer as a Service,\u201d and my customers can cancel at any time. Even en MaaSse \ud83d\ude06<\/p>\n That\u2019s why \u201cmarketing yourself\u201d needs to be constant. Your existing roster of client projects provides an insurance policy. If one project is cancelled tomorrow, you have the rest to fall back on.<\/p>\n I\u2019m as fit and as happy as ever.<\/p>\n The flexibility in my schedule means that I can dictate my exercise schedule. And I\u2019ve been exercising a lot \ud83c\udfcb\ufe0f\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/p>\n In the past, I had to work around a day in the office. In the fall and winter, when nightfall comes much earlier, it was challenging to find the motivation to exercise after work.<\/p>\n I was bummed to be laid off. But having lived the freelancing life over the past few months, I wonder if this was meant to be. That this path I\u2019m taking is the best one for me.The Office: It\u2019s Fluid<\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nSelling and Marketing: Me!<\/h4>\n
Loving the Chromebook<\/h4>\n
Everything Is Subject to Change<\/h4>\n
Fitness and Happiness<\/h4>\n
Life can work in mysterious ways.<\/h4>\n
\nMy Fitbit is setting new records and I feel great. I exercise, I\u2019m in good health and I\u2019m happy. Aint life great? \ud83e\udd19<\/p>\n