I hope the American workforce can make strides towards seeing the benefit in quality of work, rather than rigid schedules.

I understand what you said about being constantly auditioning; I totally get now why actors are so insecure. You are only as good as your last project, and there are no guarantees that someone is going to hire you for the next one. I am very fortunate that I have only had a couple of days where I haven’t had any work since I got my first gig, and I certainly don’t take it for granted.

But now that I have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up, I have to say that I’m having the time of my life. I never get up and go to “work” because it doesn’t feel like work. And the worst day I’ve ever had as a freelancer beats the heck out of any day I spent in an office. It just wasn’t the right place for me. What I do now feels right.

Often when I tell people that I freelance and work at home, they say, “Oh, you’re so lucky, I’d love to do that!” And the thing I always warn them about is this: when you freelance, there are no days off, there are only deadlines. And when you do have a day off, chances are that means you’re unemployed and you better be trying to do something about that. When I say I’m not working or am in between projects, people tend to assume I’m going to museums or the movies all day. No, I’m trying to save money and looking for work.

Another thing I point out is that when you freelance, you’re always “auditioning.” Let’s be honest–when you work in an office, you can coast to some degree every so often. Maybe you don’t have the most important role in a project, maybe your company is in kind of a holding pattern during a slow season. No matter what, you’re still getting your paycheck. When you’re a freelance writer, you are always the most important person doing your assignment. If you don’t do absolutely top work or don’t get it in on time or have a difficult relationship with the person you’re working for, you’re not going to get hired again by that editor. Worse, if someone else asks that editor about hiring you and that editor just shrugs and says, “Well…” you’re not going to get that job either. So there’s a lot of pressure to always be perfect, I find.

That said, I couldn’t stand working in an office. I like working on my own and being responsible only to me and one editor. I’m glad not to constantly be dragged to meetings when I have other work to do. I’m thrilled not to have to deal with the trains during rush hour. Yes, it would be nice to have a steadier income and a more predictable schedule, but I hated more what I left behind than what I’ve found.

For me, I love being home and love that my kids are responsible, well-educated kids surrounded by neighbors who are teen parents, druggies or troubled foster kids. It’s rather depressing at times. Then I go to my son’s 8th grade graduation and he gets six awards for academic excellence and I remember that our financial struggles and my pushing aside my job as an office manager was well worth it, but skyrocketing groceries, propane topping $5 a gallon now, and gas at $4.10 a gallon with my husband’s 40 miles a day commute is really pushing the need for full-time pay on a weekly basis.

I have found when I take on a lot of projects and I don’t have the time to see a movie or read for pleasure, it’s my choice.

I love writing; it’s important to me. I am fortunate to be able to pick and choose my projects.

Now that my daughter is seven, she sees that, understands as she hesitates and says, “Excuse me,” while I write a complete thought at my computer. She’s so cute.

In ten or less years, she’ll be living and creating outside the home, she won’t be here to say, “Excuse me,” so I cherish those interruptions.

There is a lot to living life. Don’t get me wrong. It can be a real juggle sometimes with early mornings or late nights — unexpected problems or visitors.

Balancing it all is quite a game. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I’m a little confused. It seems like there are contradictory statements here. You said you liked freelancing because it gave you time at home, but yet you didn’t have time at home

Exactly, Sandra. The reason I began freelancing is because I had a baby and it enabled me to stay home with him. As the years went by I was glad to be home with my son and take him to his activities and spend time with him. The past few months to a year I find this is happening less and less. I spend more nights and weekends working. Plus now that my son is older and playing on his own I work as he does other things. I was home all day but so busy I had less and less time for my family.

I burnt myself out so badly that I ended up forgetting punctuation and grammar rules, how to spell things, etc. The good thing is that I saw how badly I was doing and gave my notice to quit my contracts. The bad thing is that I should have done it two months earlier. Instead I decided to push through, thinking it was a slump.

I finally had to make the decision to stop working for now. I’m taking the summer off for sure. I’m hoping that I can start writing again in the fall, but I’m not sure.

If you feel like you’re starting to burn out, do something about it now. Don’t wait until you can’t string three sentences together. Or forget how to use your and you’re. Seriously. I had to correct that in the first sentence of this paragraph when I read through before I submitted this comment.

Take care of yourselves.

Would you say telecommuting is a better gig than freelancing then? I suppose if I could find work that paid well enough, I’d give up my day job too. But at this point I can’t.