What Freelancers Must Know About Ergonomics
Some professions can be dangerous to your health. These include fire fighters, oil riggers, those serving in the armed forces, and even electricians. These professionals don’t take the danger for granted. They use special equipment and procedures to minimize the risk.
As a freelancer, you also spend your days doing activities that risk your health: sitting on a chair, typing, using a mouse, and looking at a monitor. Fortunately, the risk of injury when doing these seemingly safe activities for a prolonged time is becoming better known. And like those more dangerous jobs, there is equipment and techniques that help you minimize the risk.
Ergonomics is the science of work. It looks at ways of fitting the work to the user, rather than fitting the user to the work. Chris Adam’s simple definition is that “ergonomics makes things comfortable and efficient.” He goes on to say, “Ergonomics is commonly thought of in terms of products. But it can be equally useful in the design of services or processes.” In this article, we will look at both products and techniques that help.
The science of ergonomics is a very young field, and is subject to a lot of variability. Every person is built differently so it is hard to develop universal guidelines. I’d love to have your input in the comments about what works for you and what doesn’t.
40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business
People become freelancers for all sorts of reasons. Very few do it to get into business – that’s just a side effect. To be successful freelancers, we need to be savvy business people.
Understanding business takes work – some light reading, some heavy ploughing though your government’s forms and requirements, maybe some serious study, and keeping up with business news and events. Material for small businesses and entrepreneurs will be especially helpful.
Here is a reading list for you to pick and choose from: 40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business. This list is a starting point. Please add to it in the comments.
Secret Sauce: 10 Game-changing Tips from the World’s Top Freelancers
“Learn from the best, or die like the rest.” Sobering words for a freelancer!
In this article we try to discover what separates the best from the rest. What are the world’s top freelancers doing that the rest of us aren’t?
Some of the advice you read here might seem surprising or counter-intuitive. You may read hints you have never tried. The question is: Will you give them a go?
The Monster List of Freelance Job Sites – 2009 Update
Every freelancer needs clients. We rely on them, nurture our relationships with them, and provide a quality of service that keeps then coming back. And we can never have enough of them! The Monster List of Freelance Job Sites has one purpose: to massively increase your source of potential clients and potential jobs.
This list, like Isaac Newton, stands on the shoulders of giants. The original Monster List of Freelance Job Sites has been valuable and much visited since April 2007. Your hundreds of comments have greatly added to its value. This list is a thorough update, removing dead links, adding new sites, and taking on board many of the suggestions from your comments.
We start the list with FreelanceSwitch’s own Job Board, which has categories for design, development, writing, illustration, Flash, and miscellaneous jobs, and at the time of writing contains a huge 200 jobs. You can see the available jobs with no strings attached, but to apply for jobs, you need to sign up, which costs just $7 a month. And you can advertise jobs at absolutely no cost.
Is this list now finished? I doubt it ever will be. Like the last list, it will become more valuable as you comment on which sites you found most helpful, inform us of sites that have been missed, and warn us when links stop working. And, best of all, get those jobs!
Top 10 Myths About Freelancers
A myth is a story that gets passed around. Like Chinese whispers, they develop over time, and take on a life of their own. They start with a kernel of truth, but that truth gets hard to identify after a while. The truth gets lost in the drama of the story.
There are a ton of myths about freelancing. They develop because of over-cautious fear on the one hand, and unrealistic expectations on the other. Managers can fear losing control of a job by giving it to a freelancer. Potential freelancers can imagine the worst, or ignore the risks. And myths arise.
Here are the Top 10 Myths about Freelancers.
