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How to Be Self Employed & Uber Productive – Sort of…

posted 24th February 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: All Posts, Heather Rae, Job/Career/Work, Season 2

Being self employed is seriously hard.

Not that I really consider myself self employed.  One would assume that if you’re self employed, you’re making money.  I’m not.  Let’s be honest about that.  I’m working my ass off from the comfort of my home, for nothing more than the satisfaction of doing exactly what I want.

Seriously.  That’s it.

Hopefully, one day, someone will pay me for my hard work.  For now, I’ll have to settle for satisfaction.

So back to why it’s hard to work for myself. Actually – let me first tell you the perks.  For starters, my boss rocks!  She let’s me come in when I want, take breaks when I want, take long lunches, waste hours on the internet and leave when I want.

How’s that for freedom?

What’s the downside to having the best boss in the world?  Well, it’s all this damn freedom.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE it.  But it does take a bit of an adjustment and some serious self-discipline not to blow the whole day Facebook stalking old flames and watching Gilmore Girls reruns.

Seriously, I thought I would leave my job and immediately move into being uber productive and massively efficient. I would redesign my website on Monday, write a novel by Wednesday and be a bestselling author by Friday.  Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

Okay, perhaps I’m exaggerating a bit.  But I really did think that switching from being a micro-managed employee to someone who works for herself would be simple.

I’m not finding it so easy.

I’ve always been great with time management.  I’m a ninja multi-tasker, and I kick ass when it comes to productivity. Being productive, no sweat!

But I find that I excel most when I have a deadline.  In this new venture, I have no deadlines (no real ones anyway).

I need to give myself structure – to schedule my days in ways that keep me working and productive, to stop getting sidetracked by every little thing that crosses my path.

A few “self-employed” things have helped so far:

  1. Although the thought of it made me want to vomit a little, I decided to go back to getting up early and using my alarm clock. As much as I resisted, the fact is, I have to actually be awake in order to benefit from the extra hours I get from not having a day job.
  2. For some of my work, writing in particular, I have to be alone. This is a tough one.  My fiancé and I live together in a tiny one bedroom apartment.  He also happens to be in between projects at the moment (leaving the military and waiting for his residency to start), so he’s home all the time too.  I thought this fact would be the most fun ever – and it kind of is.  Except that it’s totally distracting.  To solve this, I’ve started assigning myself dedicated hours for writing – in which I shut myself in the bedroom and don’t come out until I’m done.  On a side note, I’ve also found that a laptop, a bed and a boatload of pillows make for an uber comfy work space.
  3. I discovered a super simple program for writing called Dark Room (Write Room on Mac). When viewed in full screen mode, you see nothing on your computer but a black background and the text that you’re typing.  This is seriously good for those of us prone to distractions (like shiny buttons, formatting options and that ever-calling internet browser).   I didn’t believe it would help until I tried it for myself.  Now I’m hooked.

So that’s where I’m at so far.  I’d love to hear some of your ideas.  Have you found ways to stay on track and keep productive when working on your own projects or being self employed?

[Editor's Note:  Just in case you lovely people haven't checked out Heather Rae's personal blog- do it!   You can follow more of her adventures and reflections as she writes a novel, travels the world and pursues her passions. And bonus of all bonuses- today she wrote about her experiences thus far with the Joy Plan!  Personal values, anyone?]

photo credit: blustar_tam

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I Want to Like my Job

posted 19th August 2009    Written by: Robyn    CATEGORY: All Posts, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Robyn, Season 1

Robinandsis

(This week I posed a question to Andrea, Kendra, Robyn & Marisa- When you were small, what did you want to be when you grew up?  How has this played into your life?  And perhaps the more appropriate question for a Quarterlife Crisis: What do you want to be when you grow up? xoxo  Molly)

When I was growing up, I played “house” with my two younger sisters constantly. I was always the more practical of my sisters: Holly wanted to be a Dutch girl when she grew up so that she could always wear wooden shoes and Alex wanted to be a dolphin trainer so that she could meet Flipper.

When we played house, I was always the “Mom” and surprisingly, I balanced two jobs on top of that. I was a 9-year-old mom-doctor-artist. Pretty impressive, right? I was a creative kid who loved helping others, so mom-doctor-artist was the perfect profession for me.  Back then, I was only concerned with three simple things that I “like to do”:

Being happy
Drawing
Helping people

Now…  I am not an artist nor a doctor. I can draw nothing other than stick figures, and I faint at the site of blood, so it really wouldn’t have worked out anyway.

I am, however, still searching for something that I just plain “like to do.”

And I want that to be my job.

Over the years, I have wanted to be a restaurant owner, a high level businesswoman, a traveling journalist, a teacher, a counselor, and…  the list goes on and on. I think I have been searching for my niche for a very long time and hoping that eventually it will just find me.

I have given different occupations a chance, but I lose interest quickly when I feel like my skills aren’t used and my talent is underestimated. I’ve also really started to pay attention to how quickly time moves.  I feel like I am still a “recent college grad,” when really I’ve been a professional (well…kinda!) for the past three years.

Point is… Time flies and life really is what happens while you are sitting there making plans.

I have reached the conclusion that I will never enjoy a corporate job. I will never enjoy a 9 to 5, because there is too much living left to do! I can’t do that cramped in a cubicle, doing mindless work. I’m looking for a job that doesn’t seem so much like work.

cubicle

I also think I do need something of my own so that I can only answer to myself due to my severe aversion of doing bitch work for “the man.” I know I’m better than that, and if no one else will take advantage of my true skills (not my data entry or copying skills), then I’ll work for myself and pat myself on the back!

I’m working on getting the courage to leave my secure job and take a chance, but it’s scary to take that kind of a chance.  I’m confident in my skills, but I need an idea…a plan…  More on that later, I promise!

robyn-bio1

photo credit: stewf

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