Working as freelancers full-time has never been a goal of ours here at the Berry-Brewer Agency. Lorna and I love our company, but we have young families (and personal lives…sort of) that interfere with a rigorous 9 to 5 schedule. We love the idea of having enough freedom to attend to our lives while still growing a successful company. So far, we’ve been on a fairly good path to get there.
However, I’ve discovered that one issue that gets in the way fairly often is my attention to personal projects. And I have a hunch I’m not the only one. Freelancers almost always choose their respective fields because it’s something they enjoy and it’s something they’re good at. Photographers love to snap pictures, writers love to write, designers love to create art…you get the idea. This means that in addition to using our talents for paying work, many freelancers also dabble in the “fun” side of their craft. For me, the “fun” side has been trying to write a romance novel.
So far, things seem to be progressing really well with my little pet project. I’m working toward publication and also writing both a new novel and novella at the same time.
And therein lies the problem.
I already struggle to find the time each day to work on my writing projects for clients. Finding time for my own projects only doubles the amount of time I need to spend in front of a computer each day. Not only is it not very kind to my family, but I’ve begun to resent my “real” work for all the time it takes away from the writing I’d really like to be doing.
I’ve tried putting a cap on things with two hours of article writing resulting in a reward of one hour of personal writing, but it rarely works. Because once I get going in my stories, not even the Dancing with the Stars finale can pull me away (and that’s saying a lot). It also doesn’t help that there’s been a bit of excitement with my pet project lately, which leaves me unable to work for all the mooning about I do at my desk.
It’s all about that elusive work-life balance, I guess, but I’m curious how other freelancers walk the line between doing the work they need to do and doing the work they want to do.
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Christina Lemmey is the mother of two school-aged girls, a wife, and the owner of 
I`m at the same place right now. I have a dozen projects of my own (which is in and of itself a problem) and yet, I need to earn money! No advice here, just a fellow waffler.
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VACATION!
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I couldn’t agree more. I work for “the man” and there’s the projects management wants done, the ones I want to do for them then all the ones I want to do on my own. Not much time.
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Every time I think that I have my work-life balance figured out…something in my work or my life changes and throws the delicate balance out of whack again. Argh!
I love my child, but sometimes he drives me nuts when he wants all my attention when I’m just trying to meet a deadline for a paying client. But it also drives me nuts when I have to put my child on the backburner again because of some last-minute changes to a project, i.e. an interview gets rescheduled or an editor needs a list of additional resources compiled at the eleventh hour. Can’t I just wave a magic wand and make it all sort itself out perfectly?
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I’m writing a book, too. I have no hopes of it ever being published; it’s just something fun I’m doing for my mom and friends. But it consumes me! I think about it non-stop. I even dream of the characters.
The only way I can concentrate on the work that needs to be done is to spend an hour working on my book FIRST. Some people tend to leave those personal projects for last on their to-do lists, but I find that I am better able to do the things I need to do if I’m not wishing I was doing something else . . .
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