All Work and No Play?

There are so many "perks" to being a freelancer. The most obvious is that my schedule is pretty flexible. Aside from the ability to lunch with friends or arrange doctor's appointments without asking for time off, I made a decision to move cross country last summer... from the gulf coast of Florida to Rochester, Minnesota. I did not have to worry about quitting a job... or finding one when I got here. I can work for Mahalo from anywhere... so my home office... and my job... moved with me :)


Don't mistake my boastfulness about flexibility for "light" work days. Believe me, they aren't! The hardest part of being a freelancer for me... and having my office only steps from my living and sleeping space... is learning when to call it a day :) The hardest part for others is forcing themselves to work :) My schedule, even though I work for myself from home, is much as it would be if I were working for someone else.

I wake up between 5:30 and 6:00 most days. I take a shower... work out... grab a Slim Fast or breakfast bar... and head to the computer in my home office. There are usually a stack of emails that need to be addressed... and then I begin to edit articles that have been submitted while I was sleeping. That's when the fun starts! I learn about so many different kinds of things that interest me through the course of an average day. Writers submit articles about a wide variety of topics ranging from the latest movies to political figures and saving money in today's economy.

I chat with my work buddies in our IRC chat rooms or on the telephone to compare notes, get advice, ask and answer questions, or just shoot the breeze... much as I would if I were in a traditional office. I love what I do with Mahalo... so the toughest part for me that I am still working on, even after four years of self-employment, is learning when to call it a day.