Freelance Radio, Episode 41: My Freelance Dilemma

This is pretty awesome I have to say, I haven’t listened to Freelance Radio yet but this has inspired me to check out more of it!

I’m the first comment?! Sweet!

Great podcast guys! I was wondering what you would do in the case of clients who just avoid paying in general. They are not necessarily going through a difficult time and you feel like they are just trying their best to prevent paying you.

Big fan of the podcasts. I’m downloading it now to listen on my way to work tomorrow.

Brandi,

I’ve had my share of those type of clients too. One was in Korea and I had to write it off as a business loss. But they changed the corporate tax laws so you can’t do that now I guess according to my CPA.

I did the best research to figure out a home address for problem clients like this but when they just ignore everything it makes it hard to do anything. Short of hiring a collection agency, but many times the amount won’t justify that.

I still think someone could start a service for designers that tracks down problem clients like this. Call it http://www.kneebreakers.com LOL

Von

Thanks for listening:)

Awesome show everyone, Your BEST show yet in my opinion. I can especially identify with Kristen and her dilemma.

Von,
I first want to say that I highly appreciate your great advice that you offered in this episode. With that said, I want to request that you use a headphone Mic when your recording the show, you can hear a high pitched CPU fan during the whole show, that is a little off-putting.

In fact, I like ya so much, I am happy to offer you a free logitech usb headset , just send me an address and I will send it your way this week.

Thanks again for your brilliant work on this show guys, and gals.

~Nick

Nick,

I’m not sure it’s my fan because even when I muted my end I think the sound could still be heard? I blame Kristen cats.

I appreciate the offer and I’ll give them a try if it’s just a spare set you have, I don’t want you to have to go buy something.

My address is on my primary site at: http://www.vonglitschka.com

Thanks.

Von

This was a great podcast guys! Sorry, Kristen, that you took such a beating this time around–but I’m looking forward to everyone sharing their “dilemmas,” and all the resulting suggestions!

Of all the podcasts I listen to, Freelance Radio has become the most welcome listen in my car–and I usually must hear each one two or three times. Keep up the great work…

What a great episode.

A lot of great advice passed around from the panel re: Kirsten’s dilemma. Your dilemma is interesting because it applies to everyone who has aspirations to be better or try something new.

Of all the challenges we face, time (or our perceived lack of it!) is always high on the list of excuses. Being one of the few constants in our lives, I would suggest that we have two main ways to deal with it: allocate time, or make more effective use of your time in order to “create” more time. Generally, we’ll use both.

Von’s suggestion to log your spare time is a tactic aligned with allocating time, in the sense that you’re hoping to see that you’re “wasting” a lot of time that you could be using “productively”. We can get to why that may or may not work in a bit. Von also mentions taking advantage of those moments when you find yourself “in the zone” – this is always a great suggestion for everyone, no matter what you’re doing. It makes your more effective with your time. I might suggest looking up Sir Ken Robinson’s The Element for more on that topic. Or his TED talk – that’s really good too.

Nearly all of the panelists suggest the use of trigger tactics, or doing things that will cause you to be more motivated. Von’s suggestion to “give something 15 minutes a day” is a trigger tactic to force the allocation of time, as is John’s “just write one paragraph.” Kristen has spoken in this episode and many previous to the fact that she likes her environment set up in particular (and perhaps peculiar!) ways: this is a trigger tactic designed to help her get “in the zone” as soon as possible.

My addition to what’s been said is probably a bit high-level, but I think it applies to most of what we do. First, you have to recognize that no matter how “fun” it is or may seem, you’re still taking on more work. It’s WORK. Your problem of not having time is related to the problem itself: you want to improve your life or lifestyle, but the implicit caveat is that you also want it to impact your non-work life as little as possible. Want to make 14 more hours? Sleep 2 hours less each day. Nooo, we all know that just leads to burn out. You also need to recognize that this is a test of discipline, one that separates the ordinary from the extraordinary. And only your actions will tell whether you’re willing to be extraordinary or not The next step is to have a plan, since we all know that failing to plan is planning to fail. And that means the use of strategies and tactics that will help you accomplish your goal. This episode has been a treasure trove of tactics, so I won’t waste more pixels talking about that. After your plan is made, execute. Muster the discipline to execute. And at each step, review and reward yourself for your successes, adapt your plan for your failures and continue on.

John threw in (rather as a sidenote) what is probably the most common problem people make time excuses for: going to the gym. And it’s probably the best example of a test of discipline. Before you even step foot in the gym, you have to know why you’ve chosen to go, and what you want to get out of it, whether it be “I want to lose 10 lbs” or “I want to be able to do 50 chinups”. After that, you have to know what you’re going to do to attain your fitness goals – what exercises you’ll do, when and how many. Now you have your goal and plan. Execute. For me, it boils down to having the discipline to just drive down there. Once you’re there and you’ve PAID to get in, you’ll stay in. And then I play music in my iPod that helps me pass the time, a “get in the zone” tactic. The gym is forgiving in the sense that it rewards you in steps by its very nature. Every time you move up 5 or 10 lbs, every time you do just one more rep, or last just one more minute, you’re rewarded. You KNOW you’re getting better. You are experiencing the results. And I always write down my results in a workout sheet, so I’m able to measure my successes and recognize when I’m having down phases.

Apply that to your dilemma, Kristen. You can do it.

Dickie, I resent your comment about the local cuisine in Kansas as I live in Kansas City. We’ve got some great restaurants!

Great podcast. I completely relate to Kristen’s dilemma. I work as an art director at an ad agency but I also freelance and love to illustrate in my free time. I’ve been finding it increasingly hard to sit down and draw or paint after a long day at work, going to the gym, then cooking dinner. I often tell myself I’ll put it off until the weekend but then I’ll get lazy on the weekend too. This episode reminded me that I used to use the reward/goal system back when I was in college. It worked for me then, so I think I’m going to give it a shot again. Thanks guys!

Also in the same vein as notcot, be sure and check out http://ffffound.com if you haven’t already. Great stuff there as well.

Usually like the show but this episode was so repetitive… 30 minutes of Dickie lecturing was annoying. Pick up the pace! Couldn’t even finish it.

I have to disagree, I loved this episode and I found Dickie to be very inspiring.

I actually made a goal for myself after this episode. With Dickie’s advice, I outlined how I was going to achieve my goal and what my reward was.

I really loved the episode and I also found Dickie to be very inspiring.

Dickie = Best Man at my wedding!

Thanks to everyone for listening (even Andy, who grew weary of listening enough to come and whine about it).

Sam: if I said something about food in Kansas, I assure you it was purely in jest. I couldn’t name a restaurant in Kansas, let alone recall when I last ate in your fine state.

great podcast guys!

cheers from one of your many fans in Serbia, Europe!
dootzky

Dootzky,

We appreciate that! Thanks for listening and if you have any ideas for a show them or questions please send them in. We want the podcast to be relevant to everyone listening.

Von

Great episode guys.
While listening to it on my way to Orlando, FL. I couldn’t help but think of this video when Kristen was talking about her dilemma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk

I hope you guys enjoy it.

What a great podcast again It seems such a real common dilemma. I struggled almost the whole weekend – and still do. But after some exhausting months I feel that I need some more quiet time, while the clients start to knock on my door again.
So, I will try this everyday thing, too. Just one thing (exploring the secret world of GTD), but every day for 30 minutes.
BTW: I read an article lately saying that it takes a minimum of 21 days without interruption to acquire a habit. And you should only try to acquire one habit at a time.
Thanks for so many interesting talks in 2009. And all the best for 2010.
Michael
(Cologne, Germany)

Great podcast. I’ve also took the liberty of using Google Calendar to plan my day in advance, especially when I’m at home working. So far it has kept me focused.

I’ve been reading Freelance Switch for awhile and I really enjoy it. I just started listening to your podcast this morning and I am enjoying it too.

Kristen, there is something that really jumped out at me about your dilemma because I, too, have stared this monster down. Let’s say all of the time management and motivation tactics worked. And let’s say you did three queries per month. What’s the worst thing that could happen?

Could the answer to that question be what is getting in your way?

Much Success,
Sandra

I’m listening to this podcast for the 2nd time now and something caught my attention. The discussion on starting projects and not putting them off. I imagine we all struggle with this. However sometimes my problem is I don’t complete a project. Either because it becomes too difficult, or because I lost interest, or because I start TOO many projects.

Anyone else have this problem?

Dickie – Slamming East Coast food is not a wise thing. Two words for you, Carolina BBQ.

Great episode once again. As always you guys have many useful suggestions and great ideas.

@estevan – I thought the same thing when I was listening. Starting isn’t the always the problem it;s the finishing. Especially on personal projects.

Estevan: check out the next episode (once released).