I am a Free-lance. A Free-lance is what I am.

 

I never thought that I would become a freelancer, working from home, using my skills to make some money, and being responsible for myself.

But here I am, in my warm grey robe and comfy slippers, typing out a blog whilst I sip some tea and throw a plush steer across the passage for Widget to fetch.

The term freelance is old, 1820 old. First used in the book Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott to describe a medieval mercenary warrior, a free-lance, one whose lance is not sworn to any lord but is free to work for a fee.

I like that, makes me feel epic and medieval which is what I am.

 The term freelancing shouldn't be confused with remote work that has become increasingly popular especially since COVID-19 appeared. Remote work is the standard corporate job that just allows you to work from home rather than go into an office. The only similarity between the two is that you don't have to wear pants but should.

The work of a freelancer ranges from writing to marketing to programming but is very much contractual work that is flexible. The pay is usually lower than your standard corporate job but gives you more freedom and is a great way to upskill. The experienced freelancer can earn a decent amount of money in time depending on the work of course. And often you need to have some decent equipment like a functional computer, good internet connection, and specific software. 

I tried transcription work but no matter how good my headphones are, I am not the best at hearing other accents and unless the audio is fantastic( it rarely is) I get too stressed out to do enough projects to earn anything worthwhile. 

I wrote for an online betting website for three months and realised how much I hate that industry just based on how spammy the writing is expected to be. I have never been interested in trying to convince someone to try something in ten different ways whilst repeating the same words.

Then I found this gig as a ghostwriter and became a proper freelancer.

The first thing I learnt is that it is incredibly hard especially when you start out. You have deadlines but with no one breathing down your neck to get them done so, it's all up to you. Da Da Dummmmmmm.

Luckily I use my Google calendar to track everything so it was my go-to to create a daily schedule, everything from breaks to research to what time  I am going to shower or water my plants. That might sound nuts but it was pretty useful to help me create the habit of working whilst being able to get household stuff done.

Part of creating a healthy habit like sticking to a routine is to have a schedule, I should know because I recently ghostwrote a book on it last week. It also helps when one is so occupied with distractions. That was me, to an extent still is but my mind has calmed a tad.

It's easy to start researching a topic and get lost in articles that have nothing to do with the topic or watch a video on cryptocurrency and end up watching BTS for an hour. Yes, the distractions make you happy but in the end, the lost time causes you unwanted stress. So the things I used to get lost in are now rewards for when I reach a word target or complete a chapter.

Once I am fully emersed and writing like I am about to win an award for non-fiction, the old Imposter Syndrome creeps in. We all have it, a voice in our heads saying that we are not good enough and sooner or later we will be found out. For some of us, the voice is pretty loud and rehabilitating. For others, it plants a seed of doubt in us that compels us to work harder and faster to try to achieve the highest standards with no regard for our mental and physical well-being. I am talking to you workaholics.

For me, the voice hit me mid research on my first book, saying that I have no cooking clue as to what I am doing and that these people are going to politely tell me to fuck off. 

It was difficult to disagree because I didn't study journalism or anything to do with writing, I did a lot of writing when I worked in corporate. Creating training documents, editing work, creating working that the legal team passed for use with customers etc. But none of that work was acknowledged by my superiors. So I had a pretty huge complex going into this job.

But then The Husband gave me a great piece of advice that I will never stop using. He said, 'So what if you suck, at least you will know. Just write the book, do the thing. Do the best you can do and if you suck at it you know and can do something else.' His exact words included more choice words amongst sips of red wine but there you have it, folks.

I have ghostwritten two books already and am currently on my third, I started this blog and try to keep to a weekly schedule and I started a business. I am nowhere near being fantastic with my time or being an expert but so what. Every week I am a little better and in time I will be less frantic about my time.

I am trying my best and if I fail, at least I know I suck at it and can move on.