Comments on: How hard do you work?

By: NewEnvironmentWebs

NewEnvironmentWebs — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:14:57 +0000

Ya i hear ya I’m Just starting out (decided to become a freelancer on the 29th of dec, and been reading FSw articles or working setting up sense about the whole time. Still in high school and jobless so I’ve worked/reasearched for um probably 40 hours sense then.

By: Rest & why its so important to YOU

Rest & why its so important to YOU — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:34:57 +0000

[…] Freelanceswitch they recently had a discussion about “How hard do you work?“, some of the comments were very interesting with people talking about their habits: I […]

By: ikram

ikram — Wed, 09 May 2007 01:22:39 +0000

I gotta agree with James, being able to run chores or do something in the middle of the day that you like for an hour while the rest of the world is busy behind a desk (on a regular job) is just… ecstacy..

here’s to you james. *toast hot chocalate mug*

…sip..

By: James Tadeo

James Tadeo — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:21:02 +0000

I work odd hours and I work hard. I love what I do. Freelance is feast and famine sometimes. So keep your powder dry.

I think you need to expect that you will work more and harder when you run your own gig. In my little pond, I am the chief window washer and the big boss, and some weeks I work hours that are really mental. Things take time.

When I first started I was easily working 50 plus hours. Not all of it was billable either. Most of my time was spent with internals to get the projects and clients I wanted and needed. Now it’s a lot more manageable. My youngest client is about 8 years with me now. I have clients going past a decade. Juggling different clients and caring for them can easily burn through your day. Every year, or when it makes sense, I will fire a client when they become a liability or detrimentally affects the health of my company, or me for that matter.

It might seem simplistic, but one of the biggest benefits is being able to go grocery shopping during the day and having the place almost entirely to me self Everyone is so helpful at the counter. Much shorter line ups too. To *me* that’s cool.

…sip…

By: David Rickerts

David Rickerts — Mon, 07 May 2007 00:45:18 +0000

I find that most free lancers tend to take on more work and work longer hours when things are booming. The thought being that when times are slim you’ll have, hopefully, saved some money. The other thing is, if I say no now will they offer me any work in the future. It’s also true that sometimes we take on work that maybe over our heads and have work harder to finish it. I’ve seen free lancers bid on jobs they know they’ll have a hard time finishing because it requires some knowledge they don’t have but think they’ll find. Until you’ve established a clientle of repeat customers you always run the risk on taking on a job that may cause you grief. I’m not a general contractor, just a handyman…so to speak. I’ll take on the small mundane jobs and leave the heavy stuff to someone who has the resources.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 06 May 2007 20:35:54 +0000

I started doing freelance about a year ago. I definitely work more than I did at a “regular” job but it doesn’t seem like it. I guess that is part of the reward. When you know you are on your own and you “reap what you sow” you don’t mind doing extra.

A 3am bathroom visit often turns into a very productive time. (after the visit to the wc that is)

By: Steve Mullen

Steve Mullen — Sun, 06 May 2007 19:22:30 +0000

I might be a bit unusual in that I set out starting my own business with the plan to be part-time. My wife went back to work full time when I started my own business, and the plan was that I would take care of the kids part of my time and work part of my time. What’s ended up happening is that I work part time during the day, take care of the kids part time during the day, and then work until midnight or 1am every night.

You know what, though? I don’t mind it. As all freelancers quickly realize, the difference between working in a salaried job and working hourly, is that when you work hourly if you work more … you get paid more! It’s wonderful incentive to work your hind end off

By: moshe

moshe — Sun, 06 May 2007 15:17:38 +0000

To: Simon Farrow: This is an interesting concept, i will look it up. I guess its been my ‘freelancer’ mindset - that any job is good to have (within reason of course), and being afraid to lose contracts to cheaper quotes.

time to up the price, you say? just like my mom keeps telling me

By: lisa

lisa — Sun, 06 May 2007 14:02:29 +0000

I work longer hours but they are not necessarily conventional hours. I generally put in a 50-60 hour week but sometimes it can be an 80 hour week. There are days when I get up and work at 5:30am. Sometimes 9am. Sometimes I start work again at 8pm and go until after midnight. I often work weekends but I don’t return business emails or phone calls on weekends (weekends are productive!) I think that thing that makes the difference is that as a freelancer I am loving what I do so it doesn’t seem like work at all…most days

By: chris

chris — Sun, 06 May 2007 12:24:13 +0000

The worst day working for yourself is better than the best day at a 9-5 job. Just too many places want you to sign ridiculous NDA’s and non-competes, want to conduct pretty invasive, sometimes humiliating, background checks and then want you to sign away the few rights you have left. It’s completely insane. There used to be advantages working for a big company but most of those have been wiped away over time.

The strange thing about operating your own company, it changes the relationship footing with your customers. You’re not an employee and don’t get treated like one. Contracts are negotiated.

There are downsides. Getting paid for instance. Sometimes I’ve had to work six to eight months to collect invoices. And from my perspective, it’s the big companies that pay the slowest. Did work for major cell phone manufacturer, it took them months to pay their invoices. It wasn’t unusual for them to be six figures behind on billing on a regular basis.