Freelance Radio, Episode 38: Family Life
The latest episode of Freelance Radio, the official FreelanceSwitch podcast, is now available! This episode, the panel (John Brougher, Dickie Adams, Kristen Fischer and Von Glitschka) talks about family life. Subscriptions to the podcast are available via iTunes and an archive of all podcasts will appear in the podcast section. We hope you enjoy it!
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The Shownotes:
- Theme of the Episode: This episode’s theme is family life.
- Mailbag: Doug has a question on keeping your confidence after getting tough feedback.
- Freelance Radio Recommends:
- Dickie: Management book (helpful even for non-managers) Management by Baseball: The Official Rules for Winning Management in Any Field.
- John: Mac productivity application MacFreedom.
- Kristen: Knitting site Ravelry.com.
- Von: A series of links on copyright:
Other links mentioned include the study on interruptions.
And that’s the episode! If you like it, please feel free to rate it in iTunes or your favorite podcast aggregator, and don’t forget to email your questions/comments via the Freelance Radio form. If you’d like to record a question/comment or submit an original outro song, you can upload them via this form.
Find out more about the panelists at the following sites:
- John Brougher, podcast host and new media/communications specialist: johnbrougher.com; John’s Twitter is at twitter.com/johnbrougher
- Dickie Adams, designer, photographer, technologist, jack-of-all-trades (and master of all): twitter.com/dickieadams
- Kristen Fischer, writer and author: kristenfischer.com; Kristen’s Twitter is at twitter.com/kristenfischer
- Von Glitschka, illustrator, designer and so much more: glitschka.com; Von’s Twitter is at twitter.com/vonster
Great episode as always!
My take:
Family life: Regardless of how understanding everyone is, if you work at home there are always distractions. If you’re in the zone, and getting some work done, the last thing you need is your partner telling you the lawns need mowing.
I’ve been lucky enough to pick up an office suite in a “business centre” about 3 minutes drive from my place. It draws a clear line between work and not work, but still has the flexibility to work when I want – I can really relate to Von when he says that he hates sitting through crappy TV shows. And it has all the added benefits of having meeting rooms, and networking with other businesses.
Regarding confidence, I think it’s just an issue of hardening up. It’s easier said than done, but if you have something you’re not confident about, just go ahead and do it the first time, and the second time you can be confident about doing it.
Absolutely love the quote: “It’s not like we’re drop kicking babies” LOL.
A very nice podcast. I liked the point about family sometimes not fully understanding how much work goes in and the fact that our schedule is not totally flexible.
Just for the record I’ve never dropped kicked a baby.
And the “10 Big Myths about Copyright” link is missing the www so here is a working one: http://tinyurl.com/tenbigmyths
Von
Thanks for listening!
My wife and I both have full-time jobs in our fields, and we both actively freelance at nights, on weekends, and even in the mornings – and we have a one-year-old boy.
We’ve often talked about how no matter how often we tell people about our freelance endeavors (“Yes, when I go home from work, I do more work for my own clients.”) for many friends and family members, they really can’t even visualize or fully understand the the reality, and the amount of time and effort it takes up – not to mention the satisfaction of working on your own stuff. We have a lot of events we have to pass on because of our work, and now, because of our work and the baby.
Eventually my wife said this, and I agree: “You know, if we worked for 20 hours a week at a 7-11 on nights and weekends, people would have an easier time understanding how little time we have and would give us more respect than they do now.” Sad as it is, I really believe that.
If you only hang around with people in certain fields (design, illustration, web developers, writers) the idea of freelancing isn’t foreign, but for most people, it just never sinks in.
“If you only hang around with people in certain fields (design, illustration, web developers, writers) the idea of freelancing isn’t foreign, but for most people, it just never sinks in.”
Well said, Steve!
Very nice podcast and a “problem” that most freelancers have.
Very nice podcast, great topics. I had a real bad sound problem with my recording of the podcast. Was it just me or was someone constantly playing with an open mic?
I always have guests tur off the mics or mute them when they’re not talking. The sound really distracted me from a great podcast.
Thanks again!
Good one today. This is something I am currently struggling with, as I recently took the plunge to full time freelancing. My biggest challenge is just keeping on task during the daytime on things that aren’t so fun, that I’ve never previously *had* to take on for as many hours a day: working leads, writing emails, etc. It’s good to know that it’s not just me, as some days I seriously wonder if it’s just my ultra multi tasker personality that will keep me from succeeding. Twitter, facebook, 20 emails an hour, clients with my IM addresses … I can work hard for a full day and end up feeling as if I’ve done nothing at all.
Anyway, great to hear some perspective on it from others. It doesn’t seem like such a monster now that I know it’s just another challenge of the job.
I haven’t been keeping up with the podcasts lately so this was a good one to get back into them on.
As someone who’s just setting up as a freelancer and has a young family (a 3yr old and a 3mnth old) it was oddly reassuring to hear that others still have the same problems regarding family intrusions and outlook on freelancing/home based work after years of doing it.
Nice balance of experience too – Kristen and John without kids, Dickie with a new baby and Von with teenagers.
Kristen, it was great to hear you recommend Ravelry! 473,975 knitters can’t be wrong.
Whats up with the podcast? any new ones in the future?
You said that it takes 23 minutes 15 seconds to get back on track after a distraction. Can you link to the study you were referencing?
Its difficult making time for the family, saying that, I realize that they come first always, so I try to manage my time in the week for business at the weekends I set aside time for actives that involves us all. If I do have any spare time I continue to work on my book, poetry or look at potential designs.
Aaron,
Well I tried to find that article I had read but no dice. I did find this article which had some good advice but nothing statistical like the other. Sorry.
http://bit.ly/14soi6
Von
This podcast really resonated with me. I freelance full time from home, and my husband works from home full time. In addition, we have a 15-month-old who stays home with us. Because my husband’s job has set hours, I have our son during the day. I work during our son’s naps, in the evenings, and on the weekends. I have had to train my husband that just because he is taking a break from his work, he cannot always come and interrupt me.
I know this is an oldie but it’s a goodie and I just re-listened to it today while I cleaned my office.
“It’s not like I’m drop-kicking babies.” Still makes me laugh so hard