Taking a break from freelancing

It looks unlikely that I will be working as a freelancer for a while. I've found myself doing it for most of the past 3.5 years and what I've found toughest is managing myself.

Work itself can be found, but it's easier to find the good stuff if you're feeling fresh, positive and sharp. Things like proper sleep, regular exercise, social life and hobbies help cultivate this but in turn the irregularity of freelancing can make it trickier to organise a routine, especially if like me you are the type that works like a cheetah, burning lots of energy in a high-octane sprint and then needing a long break to recharge the battery.

I remember watching a nature programme showing the cheetah performing an unbelievable kill - and then being too tired to prevent a hyena ambling up and stealing the carcass.

A lack of colleagues and of an office to go to to vary your daily backdrop can lead to a sense of isolation, particularly if you work in print and don't collaborate with anyone beyond your interviewees to create the product. It's lonely out there, like standing near the top of a mountain. You have to be tough to embrace the freedom, to breathe in all that oxygen without becoming too dizzy. Of course, jumping into a new country every 6 months doesn't make it any easier...

I hadn;t considered much of this when I launched 3.5 years ago - although of course it's common sense. Anything is easier and better if you're feeling good. Above all, you need to feel good in your life because it's your life.

My plan now is to work full-time for a period and try to use the routine to find some stability upon which to build. If I can find that then I may be able to consider going freelance again. If you;re going to climb the mountains of the mind then you need good kit.

I wrote this after seeing this freelancer profile on Journalism.co.uk. His tips were:

* A few words of warning, and advice: never, ever stop marketing, even when you are snowed under; it is always easier to get new work when you already have work, than to go cold-calling when you have none.

* Never think you've cracked it: I have lost count of the number of times that I have had praise heaped on me for my performance, only to then lose the contract in question. The minute people start telling me that they couldn't do something without me and that I'm the best in a particular field, I start hearing alarm bells.

* Never ever send out an email without a message stating your availability for work, and carrying your contact details.

* Never ever turn down work if you can possibly avoid it. So long as it meets your quality and yield criteria, take it and worry later how you will fit it in. People you reject tend not to come back.

Reading the rest of his profile I was struck by how often he referred to taking a run as part of his routine.

Here are a couple of other sites I saved at Delicious:

A passionate amateur almost always beats a bored professional

Beating the work blues

Making the most of your time


*** Pix taken yesterday at Cherry Tree Wood ***