Let’s face it. Some freelancers don’t always want to be freelancing. Some want out. How about you? Is freelancing what you really want to be doing, long term? Is it a means to an end? Do you have something that you’re gearing up to do? Maybe you haven’t decided yet what comes after your freelance career.

If you have decided where you’re headed — whether it’s into freelancing, out of freelancing, or into a different type of freelancing — do you have a plan for your career transition? Even if you do, you know better than anyone how much time client work takes up, and how much “free time” is left over. You might feel confident that your next career will happen, but do you really have the time to make the switch, and do it properly?

The sum of those parts usually means that many freelancers do not follow their dreams. It’s been said many times before that if you’re sufficiently complacent in your life right now, you have little motive to change it (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs). You’re not “hungry” enough. The spirit of your goal might stay with you, but it’ll never have form beyond that unless you “get hungry” and take action. However, that action doesn’t have to be painful, or rushed.

Just the Facts

If you have a notion for a career transition (whether into freelancing or out of it), here are some hard facts:

1. Desire needs action. You have to put in the extra time and effort.
2. Make the time. Give up at least some time-wasting activities — such as watching that Law & Order or CSI episode for the umpteenth time.
3. Not everyone likes change, even if it’s someone else’s change. Ask your family for a “time out” period each day, where they’re not to disturb you.
4. It’s OK to pace yourself. You don’t have to learn everything at once, nor do a complete 180.
5. Funds will be a factor. Bootstrap yourself. Only spend the minimum necessary — earned from current work — for your transition. If you gain some revenue, try setting it aside for long-term savings, as your operating capital for when you have fully transitioned.
6. You need a plan. Where do you actually want to be when you are “fully” transitioned? What kind of income do you want, and what type or amount of work is necessary? Where will that work come from? Is it sustainable?
7. Time doesn’t have to be an issue. We’ve become slaves to time and setting dated goals — a problem that’s possibly a deep-seated type of ageism. That is, “If I don’t reach this goal by a certain time, I’m not worthy.” I now believe it’s a very bad thing for most people to set dated goals — unless you have some overwhelming reason to do so. If progress is slower than expected, the experience might be demoralizing or even depressing.

Making the Transition

After a couple of decades of goal-setting and coaching others to set and achieve goals, I’ve come to the conclusion that the concept of time is fiction. I no longer subscribe to the idea that “I must” complete a goal by such and such a date. Pragmatism is sometimes hard won, but you’ll probably be happier than if you force yourself to reach a goal by a certain date.

Have a look at the following animation (created with Google Graphs and Windows Moviemaker):

In the animation above, the 24-hr day is divided initially into 40% client work and 60% free time. (40% ~= 9.5 hours, which includes lunch, breaks, and a bit of leeway. Free time means any time that has nothing to do with work, and includes sleep.)

The animation shows the work day transitioning from no “personal project” work to no client work. (”Personal project” simply means whatever dream career you’re transitioning to.) The % of free time never falls below 45%, because nothing is worth not having a bit of a life, even during transition. Once freelance work — or a particular type of freelance work — has been phased out, you can start returning free time back to the 60% level. (This is just an example. Choose whatever 24-hr breakdown you’re comfortable with.)

This animation is aimed at current freelancers, but it applies to those of you wanting to transition into freelancing. Just keep in mind that it’s easier to cut back on contract client work than salaried work. You may have to factor in weekends, which the animation does not consider.

Summary

Whether you’re transitioning into freelancing or out of it, be realistic in your goals. Ask yourself, “Do I know where I want to go? Do I really need to get there by a certain date?”

You might be surprised to learn how much better you feel about your current work if you have an outlet for pursuing your dream career. Ease into it; don’t rush. If you’re already there, fantastic. If not, then godspeed to you.

source : freelanceswitch.com

 

Technorati Tags: career,freelance,tips

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For freelance bloggers there is a huge range of pay available by writing for different blogs. Some will pay only a few dollars per article while others can pay very well. Of course, the pay is impacted by factors such as the income of the blog and the complexity and detail of the posts being written.

Additionally, many blogs pay freelancers at different rates according to their skills and to the results that they produce. This leaves freelance bloggers with an opportunity to increase their income by finding the right jobs and by producing better results.

If you’re hoping to do both of these in order to raise your income, one of the best things you can do is to focus on building your name recognition. Freelance blogging can be greatly influenced by how well you are known and respected in your niche. Those who are well-known have an easier time finding work, and in fact the work often finds them.

When you’re hired as a freelance blogger, why are you really being paid?

Of course, the pay is based on you producing a post that’s worthy of being published, but really you’re being paid to get results. Without results the blog will eventually not be making the money to support the writers and the opportunity will dry up.

But if your posts attract visitors to the site, new subscribers, and increased revenue, your clients will love you and they’ll want to keep your around.

With that in mind, how can you consistently improve the results that your posts produce?

The quality of your writing is obviously important, but name recognition is also a huge factor.

Take for example someone like Chris Garrett. Chris has written for a number of very well-read blogs (including Freelance Folder) and he is well-known and well-respected by readers. Recently he’s added to his name recognition by co-authoring a book with Darren Rowse.

When Chris publishes a post on another blog, people instantly recognize his name and they read the post with more attention than they might if it had been written by someone they didn’t know.

While unknown bloggers always have the opportunity to create results with high-quality content and/or effective marketing, having a recognized name is clearly an advantage. As a freelance blogger you may only be publishing 10% of the content at a particular blog. In this case, it’s difficult to develop a reputation with those subscribers because they see content from many other writers as well, and they’re unlikely to remember everyone and what they’ve written.

You can turn this into an advantage by building your name across the niche so that whenever you publish a post, regardless of where it is published, readers will give your posts a little bit more attention.

How Can You Improve Your Name Recognition?

1. Write Quality Posts

The most important thing you can do is to write the highest quality posts that you’re capable of. You can do everything else correctly, but without strong content you’ll have a difficult time building respect. Your reputation will spread pretty quickly if your quality is extremely high.

2. Take More Jobs

One easy way to improve your name recognition is to get more exposure by writing in more places. Rather than sticking to writing for the same blog all the time, branch out and reach some new audiences. Each blog you write for will have a unique audience, even if you’re writing for others in the same niche.

3. Focus on an Industry/Niche

It’s basically impossible for a freelance blogger to build strong name recognition throughout the internet as a whole. Even those who are well-know and respected as leaders in their niche are highly unlikely to be recognized in the outside world. Focus your efforts on your specific niche and do the best job that you can do to become a leader.

4. Get Some Variety

Spread yourself out a bit throughout the niche. For example, if you’re a freelance designer you may want to write for freelancing blogs as well as for those that are focused on design. Part of the audience is likely to overlap, but by being in a few different places with some variety you can get added exposure.

5. Have a Home

All freelance bloggers really should have their own blog to give them a home or a starting point. When others mention you, give them a place to link back to besides just your work at other blogs. Your own blog will serve as your portfolio and it will allow others to track you down and contact you if they want to hire you.

6. Be an Active Networker

Freelance bloggers have excellent opportunities for networking. They’re constantly in contact with influential blog owners, they’re always reaching new audiences, and they’re working side-by-side with other talented and well-connected writers. You may find that many of your freelance blogging opportunities will come by way of your network. Additionally, these contacts can be valuable for you on your own projects outside of freelancing, such as building your own blog.

7. Seek Out Exposure

From time-to-time you may have an opportunity to write for a blog that would provide you with some valuable exposure, but it might not pay as much as you’d like. This is something that you’ll have to weigh, but sometimes you may get more out of the opportunity in the long term than just the pay for the post. If the blog could give you a chance to improve on your name recognition, it may be worth considering.

8. Market Your Own Work

As a freelance blogger, your responsibility will usually not include marketing the posts. However, if you’re attempting to improve your name recognition you may want to do whatever you can to get your writing in front of more eyeballs. Several months ago I wrote a post at Daily Blog Tips about using social media to market your freelance blog posts. Social media is an excellent opportunity for freelancers because with a strong social media presence you can create significant results for your work, regardless of where it is published.

What’s Your Experience?

What have you seen to be the impact of name recognition in your own freelance blogging efforts?

Steven Snell

******

About the author: Steven is a website designer and blogger for Vandelay Website Design. His blog contains frequent posts on the subjects of web design, marketing, SEO, and blogging. He also runs Traffikd, a blog about internet marketing and social media.

source : freelancefolder.com

 

Technorati Tags: freelance,blogger

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As a developer, you are hopefully writing mostly all your own code. Nevertheless, there might be the odd time when you need some quick inspiration or even a quick snippet of code to push things along.

These 23 websites are for those times. All are excellent resources and all are about sharing tips and tricks and making code freely available in a variety of different programming languages.

 

Take a look and add them to your programming tool belt:

http://www.codeguru.com/

CodeGuru is a free website where you can find tips, tricks, and other pieces of useful code. You can find literally thousands of articles and thousands of pieces of code that you can download, look at, modify, play with, and use – for free. There are many new things you can learn on codeguru.com! Navigating the site is very easy – you have 3 main categories: Visual C++ / C++, .NET/ C#, and Visual Basic. There is no registration required to get the code. You also have free access to the Discussion Forums, where you can ask for opinions, and go to the Resource Directory, where you can find valuable resources to aid you in your development process.

http://www.free-php.net/

Free-php.net offers lots of free PHP scripts and resources. Website navigation is very clear and all the free stuff is divided into 6 sections – Free PHP Scripts, Commercial PHP Scripts, PHP Resources, PHP Tutorials, Web Resources, and PHP Hosting. A great feature of free-php.net is the request area, where you can request the script you need. They also have PHP forums, support forums, programming chat, and PHP resource links.

www.thefreecountry.com/

You can find resources on free compilers, interpreters, source code, libraries, tutorials, references, debuggers, compiler construction kits, 3D engines, animation, programmers' editors, resource leak detectors, programming language grammars, programmers' tools, database libraries, ODBC drivers, SQL servers, and many more. The website is absolutely free of charge and aims at programmers and webmasters looking for free code to help them in the development process. Navigation is easy and intuitive; you can easily find what you are looking for.

http://www.hotscripts.com/

HotScripts.com is a large Internet directory that compiles and disseminates Web programming-related resources. The website has more than 40,000 Resources listed in over 1,000 Categories. There are 16 main categories – Ajax, ASP, ASP.NET, C and C++, CFML, CGI and Perl, Flash, Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Remotely Hosted, Ruby on Rails, Tools and Utilities, Web Hosting, and XML. HotScripts.com is aimed at webmasters and programmers who are searching for code to enhance their websites and applications. HotScripts.com’s mission is to provide Web developers and programmers with one of the best centralized collection of high quality programming information and resources.

http://www.scriptdungeon.com/

Scriptdungeon.com is a free directory offering hundreds of free scripts, tools, and utilities. Website navigation is very clear, the resources are divided into 4 main categories - Free ASP Scripts, Free PHP Scripts, Free Java Scripts, and Free Tools & Utilities. The directory is targeted towards web developers, network administrators, and home users who are looking for some nifty little scripts to enhance their applications. Scriptdungeon.com is fast, secure, and does not need authentication – you can browse and download the code anonymously. Although downloading is a little difficult, you will get used to it in a short while.

http://cgi.resourceindex.com/

Cgi.resourceindex.com is a free directory containing over 2,700 programs and CGI scripts written in Perl, C, C++, and other languages. Best of all, each script is explained – you will know exactly what it does and how it does. You can also find Documentation, Books, and a Programmers section where you can find freelance programmers and companies that are happy to work on your projects. Most of the scripts are written in Perl. The website navigation is very intuitive. Basically, there are 7 main sections – Programs and Scripts, Remotely Hosted, Documentation, Books, Programmers, Jobs, and Web Hosting. Before you can download resources, you need to become a member. However, this is quite easy and only takes about 2 minutes.

http://php.resourceindex.com/

Php.resourceindex.com is a free directory offering over 3,600 free PHP scripts and over 300 functions and classes. The PHP scripts are ready-to-use PHP programs, while the functions and classes are not complete scripts but code pieces that can aid in application development. The navigation is very intuitive. Basically, there are 5 main categories – Complete Scripts, Functions and Classes, Documentation (information, books, tutorials, examples and help regarding PHP programming), Community (this is where you'll find resources such as jobs, chats, message boards, developer sites and much more), and Web Hosting (find a Web host for your PHP programs). You will need to become a member in order to download the code. However, this only takes about 2 minutes of your time.

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/

Dynamic Drive is the best place on the Internet where you can get original free DHTML & Javascripts to enhance your web site. Although at first glance the website appears somewhat crowded, it is in fact very well structured. You can clearly see all the script categories right on the home page – Calendars, Date & Time, Document Effects, Dynamic Content, Form Effects, Games, Image Effects, Links & Tooltips, Menus & Navigation, Mouse and Cursor, Scrollers, Text Animations, User/System Preference, Window and Frames, XML and RSS, and Other. Below the main categories, you will find a list of updated scripts – looks like this site really keeps track of all changes. All the scripts have a short description and install guide.

http://www.fatscripts.com/

Fatscripts.com is a resource directory created with user experience in mind. Users can find the scripts and resources they need without being bombarded with an excessive amount of ads. The home page is very clean, featuring a nice navigation tree. The directory offers over 14625 scripts, organized in 13 categories – ASP, ASP.NET, C and C++, Cold Fusion, Flash, Java, Javascript, Perl and CGI, PHP, Python, Remote, Tools, and XML. Some of the scripts and tools come at a price (you can still download a free trial). However, many are free. Every script or tool is explained, and information about supported Operating systems is available for all of them.

http://www.opensourcescripts.com/

Opensourcescripts.com search and catalog useful free open source software and scripts. It provides valuable resources for users and helps them find and use open source applications that are stable. The navigation is very intuitive and easy to follow. All the scripts are organized into 12 categories – ASP, ASP.NET, C & C++, Delphy and Kylix, Java, Javascript, CGI and Perl, PHP, Python, Unix Shell, Visual Basic, Tools and services. You don’t need to register to download the free scripts – you can browse the website anonymously. Some of the download links do not work properly. However, more than 90% seem to work just fine.

http://www.javascriptkit.com/

Javascriptkit.com is a comprehensive resource for free JavaScript scripts and tutorials, Web design tutorials, DHTML tutorials, and many more. The website has a clean design and all the resources are organized in 8 main categories - Free JavaScripts, JavaScript Tutorials, DHTML Tutorials, Web Design Tutorials, JavaScript Reference, DOM Reference, IE Filters/ Transitions Reference, and Free Java Applets. You don’t need to register to the website - getting the scripts is easy, just follow the links. Each script is explained, and the code is posted for you to copy paste.

http://www.thescriptlibrary.com/

This website provides a central location for many free scripts written in many languages, including Powershell, VBScript, Javascript, Perl, Python and others. The website currently offers over 10,000 free scripts, mainly in the Jscript, Perl, Powershell, Python, and VBscript categories. Navigation is very easy; you basically have 15 main categories from which to choose - ASP ASP.Net Batch COM Object HTA Html Jscript Kixtart Perl PHP Powershell Python Rexx SQL VBScript. You can also use the search engine built in the website. Getting the code is very simple, no authentication and no registering required. You simply follow the links and get the free code.

http://www.javafile.com/

This website is one of the best websites offering free java scripts and applets. Downloading and installing is easy. You don't need to know how to code! You just need to download the script or applet, add it to your HTML, and edit it to suit your needs. When searching for scripts, you can browse a list of 27 categories – Alerts, Animation, Audio Effects, Backgrounds, Banner Utilities, Browser Utilities, Buttons, Calculators, Clocks, Color Picker, Cursor Effects, Email Forms, Fun and Games, Horizontal Rules, Image Effects, Menuing, Mouseover, Passwords, Popup Windows, Site Search, Slideshow, Status Bar, Text Effects, Ticker Tapes, Web Search, Website Tools, and JavaFile Forums.

http://javascript.internet.com/

The webmasters of this site have put together a collection of thousands of free JavaScripts that are available to anyone. The scripts are available via a user friendly interface, including a working JavaScript example of most of the scripts and a text box with the complete actual JavaScript code used. You can just select a category from the navigation menu at the top or use the search engine to find the script you are looking for. Be sure to check out the website’s 'What's New?' section to view the latest scripts. Also, you can use the JavaScript Forum to post script requests, script questions, and more. If you are tired of copy pasting, you have the option of sending the code to your email by simply using the box under the script.

http://www.frontpage2002.com/free_javascripts_download.htm

This is a very straight forward website. When you arrive, you see al the available scripts on one long page. You can search through them to find all you need. No registration is needed; you simply click the link and go get the code. Every script has a detailed description and detailed “how to install” guide.

http://www.perlscriptsjavascripts.com/download.html

This is another very simple website. When you arrive, you see all the available scripts under two categories:

• Perl Scripts - compatible with Mac, Windows IIS 4 & 5, Linux, Unix, Sun and FreeBSD servers
• JavaScripts - All scripts are tested with Firefox, Internet Exporer 5+, Netscape Navigator 4+, Opera 5+ on Macintosh OSX and Windows XP

Downloading the scripts is easy. However, before you download, you will be asked for your name, email address, used Operating System. After you fill in the data and click “I agree to your terms of use”, your download will begin. You can also browse through the navigation tree to the left for a more specific search.

http://www.zubrag.com/scripts/

This is a small website offering a couple of free PHP scripts. The website also features an “Online tools” section as well as an “Articles” section. All the scripts are listed on two pages. When you click on one, you will see a detailed description and a guide to download and install the script. The user does not have a navigation tree or a search engine to search for scripts. However, since the number of scripts is small, these options are needless.

http://www.aspcode.net/

This website offers lots of useful articles, tutorials, and code examples organized in 5 main categories - ASP.NET articles, .NET, Applications, ASP, and Other. You can also find useful information on the ASPCode.net blog. The navigation is very easy to follow, you just need to go in the category you want and find what you are looking for. Aspcode.net also features a good search engine built in the website. You don’t need to register or submit anything; you simply go and get the code. Also, the speed is awesome; the pages load in record time.

http://www.codetoad.com/

This website provides free code samples, in-depth tutorials, and loads of useful resources. What you find here can assisting you in application development. If you are new to programming, the tutorials show you how to do different things. The resources are organized in 10 main categories – ASP, ASP.Net, C++/C#, DHTML, HTML, Java, Javascript, Perl, VB, and XML. The website is entirely free to use; no registration required and no hidden fees applied. You have access to the Forums, where you can share your opinion or ask for help. Overall, the website is easy to use, navigation is very simple, and we did not find any broken links.

http://www.planet-source-code.com/

This is one of the largest public source code databases on the Internet. It features over 13,000,000 lines of code and articles and tutorials in 11 languages. They also maintain a job section with more than 1,700 open job postings. All the resources are organized in 10 main categories - Visual Basic, Java / Javascript, C / C++, ASP / VbScript, SQL, Perl, Delphi, PHP, Cold Fusion, and .Net. Although the website is a little crowded with too many ads, navigation is easy and intuitive. For every code, you will find a good description, as well as a download link. No registration needed, simply go and grab the code you want.

http://www.freecodemomma.com/links.php

This website offers free articles, source code, and tutorials. Navigation is easy and intuitive, while the website itself is clean and organized. All the resources are organized in 20 main categories – AJAX, ASP, ASP.Net, C#, C/C++, CSS, DHTML, Embedded Visual Basic, Flash, HTML, Information Technology, Java, JavaScript, JSP, Perl, PHP, SQL, SVG, Visual Basic, and XML. You can navigate to the category of your choice and download source code without registering. There are no hidden fees and all the links seem to work fine. However, a major drawback is the absence of a search engine.

http://freeajaxscripts.net/

Freeajaxscripts.net put up a nice collection of free Ajax scripts for you to use. The pages are very clean and navigation is quite easy; all the Ajax scripts are condensed in 5 pages. The first page is actually the website’s home page. Freeajaxscripts.net features a nice embedded Google search engine, providing means for targeted searches. The website features many links to other free websites and directories where you may find what you are looking for. You don’t need to register to download the free scripts; you can browse, search, and download anonymously. Although it does not feature hundreds of resources, Freeajaxscripts.net does its best to offer you only high quality code.

http://killervb.com

This site is well suited for advanced VB coders, with a focus on Win32 API development, and a wide range of resusable components and classes. Resources are devoted to classic and .NET components and code.

source : investintech.com

 

Technorati Tags: code,free,resource

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Why Freelance?

There are many reasons why a person should freelance and leave the 9 to 5 grind. Here, I will outline a few of them.

Pay yourself what you’re worth – Many companies are not willing to pay employees what they are actually worth. With downsizing and restructuring of companies, employers are assigning multiple tasks to their skeleton crew, without offering a pay increase. If many of you were to view a chart of the current salaries for your profession, you may find you are grossly underpaid. A colleague of mine was once offered a “promotion”, which included a new title, more duties and no salary increase.

Financial Security – If you think your 9 to 5 offers you financial security, think again. A downturn in profits, an economic crisis or a surly supervisor can snatch your security away in seconds. Do you really want your financial future to rest in the hands of people who may or may not care about you? Who would better look out for your interests than you?

Take a vacation – Yes, you can guarantee yourself an annual two-week period to unwind, whether it be at home or lying on a beach in the Caribbean.

Family Friendly – Most companies these days are not “family friendly” and most households require two incomes to make ends meet. Two of my brothers in law, own and operate their own businesses. With their businesses, they are able to take care of the children when they are sick. There was never a problem transporting them to school and other activities. Only partial day care was needed, so the costs were much lower than a family, which both parents work outside the home. Imagine all the expenses and headaches you can save by operating your own business. Of course, running your own business is a huge undertaking, but you can plan around your family’s needs rather than adhering to a rigid schedule.

Have some “me” time – With your own business, you can be sure to take some time for yourself. Have lunch with a friend across town. Have a doctor appointment? Start on your work later, without enduring icy stares from your supervisor or being told to stay late to finish your assignment. Be sure to schedule in a daily workout. Most people gain weight or otherwise get out of shape when they enter the work force. Long hours, fattening group lunches and snacks from the vending machines will change your once svelte body into that of a couch potato in no time. I myself, have experienced mass weight gain, during my five year stay at a certain company. When I left the job, my first move was to buy healthy foods and begin a work out program, tailored to my schedule. I have written my story in my article called Return to Fitness. I am not saying it is impossible to stay fit while working at a company full time. I maintained my shapely figure for twelve years. But when I began working very long hours, with a long commute, it became almost impossible for me to keep up.

Avoid Office Politics – Unless you are very skilled in the art of charisma (and I’m not), you could be overlooked for the promotions and assignments you’ve worked so hard to attain. We all know someone with the gift of gab obtaining the dream job, by the grace of God. While we toil and put in over time, the campaigner is schmoozing his way to top.

Choose your assignments – How many of us have the luxury of choosing the assignments we would like in a corporate environment? If your boss hands you a tedious assignment, you have to deliver. When you are operating your own business, believe it or not, you can arrive at the place where you can choose your assignments. When your business is at the beginning stages, you will want to accept various assignments, but as you become established, you can afford to be more selective. There are certain clients, whom I’ve sent a friendly email stating it is best we sever ties.

Now that I may have persuaded you that freelance is the way to go, I must warn you to try to make the transition as smooth as possible. Many business fail in the first five to seven years and much of it is due to poor planning. I would say, I made the transition from full-time employee to full-time business owner as conservatively as possible. It was a long four years, but I managed to maintain my full-time job, while building my business on nights and weekends. I saved just about every penny earned from moonlighting to put back into the business. I started out with an old Macintosh computer, Photoshop and Illustrator, an inexpensive printer and scanner. As I began to earn money from my freelance assignments, I established my business as a sole proprietorship, obtained my tax I.D. number, and bought new equipment and software. My business is still operated from my home, so there is no additional overhead. If you have an interest that you enjoy, you can find a way to earn money.

source : allfreelancework.com

 

Technorati Tags: freelance,home business,career

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Today’s to-do list:

• Collect info for a newsletter for a telephony and call center company (15 minutes)
• Meet with a regular client about a seminar we’re putting together (2 hours)
• Interview a board member about renewable energy sources for her monthly column from the chair (30 minutes)
• Interview a VP from a printing company about reducing paper handouts at educational events (15-30 minutes)
• Discuss an industry article about online job boards plus development of a company blog (15 minutes)
• Follow up with a dentist regarding an article about his charity work (5 minutes)
• Type up my notes for an article about new ideas for trade show sponsorship (30 minutes)

Six clients and seven tasks in one day — pretty typical.

Since I opened my doors as a freelance copywriter just about one year ago, I’ve developed a syndrome I call WADD — Writing Attention Deficit Disorder. I work on multiple projects from multiple clients every day… sometimes for 15 minutes, an hour, two hours…. I don’t think I’ve ever dedicated a full day to one project except at the very beginning, when all I had was one project at a time. Even an uninterrupted 4-hour block is rare, except on the weekends, when I tend to knock out my “chunky” projects.

This kind of schedule suits me because I love the variety and get a little bored if all I’m doing is writing one paper for three days. I’m definitely a little ADD in everything I do, so switching from one project to another rapidly and often actually keeps me more productive than working for hours and hours on one project.

But this doesn’t bode well for my plans to write a book. I get up every morning and post to this blog, with entries taking 15 minutes to a full hour. When I’m ready to pull all this stuff into a book, it’ll be tough for me to sit for 6-8 hours at a time and cobble all these pieces together. In addition, I tend to put off big projects like the book or a big writing project, even if someone’s paying me for it. If I am looking at 6 hours of work without any back and forth with the client, I keep hitting the snooze button on the due date alarm.

I admire people like copyeditors who can spend hours, days, weeks on one project, meticulously reading chapter after chapter for hours at a time. I guess I could do it if I forced myself, but I think I’d find too many distractions to take me away from the computer.

Technorati Tags: freelance

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