Great job, and thank you for your insights. I've been a freelancer and always dreaded the hustle of trying to make new connections and pitch new stories; I tend to stick with publications where I know the editor, they know me, and pitching is easy. But working from home without structure can be so hard. I relate to the story of the part-time crossing guard because I left my independent part-time work (coaching) to take a structured part-time gig (substitute teaching) for similar reasons and love the change.
I would add to the More column: travel. To the Less column: uncertainty and conflict (but I can't really control those stress-creating things).
I hope your new job allows time for writing your newsletter; I really appreciate it!
I've done the same, generally have stuck with editors and publication that I know. I think in the end, I realized that I just wanted to quiet all the unnecessary noise around me. And I'm hoping that, in the end, this will give me more headspace to write and be creative, including writing this newsletter.
I mean, I can close my computer at 5pm??!?! WHAT? In all seriousness, the mental exhaustion was just getting to be a lot and I'm getting old haha. I'm excited to see where this might lead because who knows.
I selfishly want more of what speaks to you most. As much as I appreciate your freelance work, I'm most interested in reading the things that strike you directly, that you feel the world is missing, that we hopefully can receive from you directly on here, on your own timeline when it strikes you. Which is all to say, good luck with your new job, please don't get so sucked in that we don't hear from you!
I've been thinking a lot about what I want from this space and the type of things that I want to share. I loved the early days of blogging but by the end, I felt like was posting things just to post things and it became less authentic and less me. I don't want to replicate that here and yet there's that pressure to Publish! Every! Week! or more. All this to day, thank you and I appreciate you and your words tremendously.
Really happy for you Christine. This new chapter will be great. You and I have talked about this before as I have been in this cycle of taking a job twice in the last 10 years for the stability and benefits, but for me it didn't cure burnout because of the other side hustles that I still kept. However, eliminating the hustle for freelance clients is HUGE and I can feel that immense relief for you. With remote work in particular, as the last job I had turned into remote because of Covid, it's still important to maintain boundaries as it gets a bit blurry. This took willpower on my part that I wasn't particularly good at (and still am not).
The crossing guard article made me laugh because a client contact of mine who I have now worked with on two big projects for massive corporate organizations has told me that being a PT crossing guard is her exit plan from tech. How funny to read this article!
I'm struggling with the not side hustling piece of this because it's been so ingrained in me. And of course, interesting opportunities have come my way the last couple of weeks. I keep trying to remind myself that I took this job so that I didn't have to freelance anymore but my brain doesn't compute.
Yes, I thought the same too, but I just kept most of the freelance and I was running the biz and suddenly I had three jobs. I hope you can figure it out better than I did!
Great job, and thank you for your insights. I've been a freelancer and always dreaded the hustle of trying to make new connections and pitch new stories; I tend to stick with publications where I know the editor, they know me, and pitching is easy. But working from home without structure can be so hard. I relate to the story of the part-time crossing guard because I left my independent part-time work (coaching) to take a structured part-time gig (substitute teaching) for similar reasons and love the change.
I would add to the More column: travel. To the Less column: uncertainty and conflict (but I can't really control those stress-creating things).
I hope your new job allows time for writing your newsletter; I really appreciate it!
I've done the same, generally have stuck with editors and publication that I know. I think in the end, I realized that I just wanted to quiet all the unnecessary noise around me. And I'm hoping that, in the end, this will give me more headspace to write and be creative, including writing this newsletter.
The hustle and mental exhaustion of the freelance grind is the hardest part. 100% get it! Sounds like a fun new job too
I mean, I can close my computer at 5pm??!?! WHAT? In all seriousness, the mental exhaustion was just getting to be a lot and I'm getting old haha. I'm excited to see where this might lead because who knows.
Awesome!
I selfishly want more of what speaks to you most. As much as I appreciate your freelance work, I'm most interested in reading the things that strike you directly, that you feel the world is missing, that we hopefully can receive from you directly on here, on your own timeline when it strikes you. Which is all to say, good luck with your new job, please don't get so sucked in that we don't hear from you!
I've been thinking a lot about what I want from this space and the type of things that I want to share. I loved the early days of blogging but by the end, I felt like was posting things just to post things and it became less authentic and less me. I don't want to replicate that here and yet there's that pressure to Publish! Every! Week! or more. All this to day, thank you and I appreciate you and your words tremendously.
Congrats!! Freelancing is absolutely no longer sustainable (if it ever really was). Here's to pivots and new chapters!
1000% unsustainble, at least in a way that makes sense for me right now. Pivots and new chapters are good!
Congrats Christine! I’m so excited to see what this next chapter has in store for you. ❤️
Means so much to have you in my corner.
Really happy for you Christine. This new chapter will be great. You and I have talked about this before as I have been in this cycle of taking a job twice in the last 10 years for the stability and benefits, but for me it didn't cure burnout because of the other side hustles that I still kept. However, eliminating the hustle for freelance clients is HUGE and I can feel that immense relief for you. With remote work in particular, as the last job I had turned into remote because of Covid, it's still important to maintain boundaries as it gets a bit blurry. This took willpower on my part that I wasn't particularly good at (and still am not).
The crossing guard article made me laugh because a client contact of mine who I have now worked with on two big projects for massive corporate organizations has told me that being a PT crossing guard is her exit plan from tech. How funny to read this article!
I'm struggling with the not side hustling piece of this because it's been so ingrained in me. And of course, interesting opportunities have come my way the last couple of weeks. I keep trying to remind myself that I took this job so that I didn't have to freelance anymore but my brain doesn't compute.
Yes, I thought the same too, but I just kept most of the freelance and I was running the biz and suddenly I had three jobs. I hope you can figure it out better than I did!