Comments on: The best and worst things about freelancing

By: Trisha

Trisha — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 23:37:31 +0000

Worst: Having a hard time finding good work while not being scammed.

Best: Staying home. I’m a homebody. Plus, I have chronic migraines that really keep me from having a normal working life.

By: Micah

Micah — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:45:19 +0000

The absolute best thing about it is learning so many things about topics I write about. Working in any old attire is great too.

Discipline is the worst. The timer is a great idea.

Of course, being availabe for my son is wonderful too, being able to just walk away.

I’m one who goes in streaks too as someone mentioned.

Sometimes getting out of the house is the big deal of the day!

By: Mariella

Mariella — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:44:33 +0000

Misti>> I love that idea about competing with myself. In fact, I’ll be using that right now with this project I’m working on.

Katharine>> I comment a lot on blogs too. LOL. Probably comes from being a problogger. Unforunately, it’s not always good — but I can’t help it.

By: Robin C

Robin C — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:32:23 +0000

The best? Getting paid to write about the amazing people and places out there. A great profile subject or story makes the whole world seem new again. Having people tell me how much they enjoyed one of my stories is the icing on the cake.

The downside? While I’m great at the whole creative end -generating story ideas, researching, interviewing, writing -I’m terrible at the business/organization end. Are there agents or managers for freelance writers? I could use one!

Robin C

By: Bryan M.

Bryan M. — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 22:03:51 +0000

The best thing about freelance writing is that, with the meager earnins, there is zero likelihood that you will get a swelled head and alienate any friends or family.

The worst thing is that you *will* alienate your friends and family anyway because of obsessive proofreading of emails, phone messages, and birthday cads.

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:08:29 +0000

Of course, the fact that at this minute, our neighbors are having a gigantic dead tree cut down branch-by-branch, is not helping me concentrate at all. Whoever thought this could be so noisy? (Or smell so much like a campfire???)

By: Katharine Swan

Katharine Swan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:01:00 +0000

Misti –

I’ve thought of using the timer idea myself, but I’m too lazy to go buy one, and too wary of viruses to download one.

I’m always trying new ways to increase productivity and keep me focused longer. Every time I try something new, it works great for a few days or a week. Unfortunately, after that I slip back into my old bad habits… Like commenting a lot on blogs…

:::sigh:::

By: Misti

Misti — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 15:55:23 +0000

Mariella:

You’re welcome. If you want, you can also try competing with yourself.

You do that by keeping track of roughly how long you manage stay on-topic, and deciding to try to meet or break your record time.

I’ve noticed that music I know can help me focus, too.

Of course, for any of these to work, I do have to use them… *eyes clock* Um, never mind.

By: Mariella

Mariella — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:01:54 +0000

Misti> thank you so much for the advice. I used to do this too when I’ve worked as a tech blogger. But somehow, I’ve forgotten it along the way. So thanks for the reminder, I’ll definitely be doing that.

By: Misti

Misti — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:52:47 +0000

Mariella:

Here’s an idea that I’ve sometimes used to help focus. (Unfortunately, I don’t have this function on my current computer system, and Mom wouldn’t like it if I borrowed hers from the kitchen.)

Set a timer every half-hour to hour with a reminder to work. Also set it when you step out for “just a minute” for a break. It can help drag you back from the distraction trap.