This freelancing decision cost me $1000.
This freelancing decision cost me $1000.
How taking on more work can make you lose money.
Hey gang š
A freelancing decision I made last week has cost me over $1000.
It also taught me, without a doubt, the best lesson Iāve learned since becoming a freelancer.
Iām not doing my usual Retention Review this week because, as a result of The Decisionā¢ļø, Iām gonna be working hella late tonight š¤¦āāļø
But donāt feel sorry for me - Freelancing 101 means owning your decisions, and no one put me in this position except me! š
Letās talk about it.
The Decision
About a month ago, I made the choice to take the week of November 21st off.
I was feeling pretty burned out after 4 months of working continuously and knew I needed it.
Then I got an offer to write a script for a pretty big YouTuber (and for good money).
So this is what happened inside my brain:
I like writing scripts.
I like this YouTuber.
Their communications have been extremely gracious.
Nothing like a little extra cash to enjoy on your week off.
Iām writing this script WOOHOO!
The Result
When working with a client for the first time, a little time is always lost in the meta-game of trying to figure out how you jive.
As a result (and as I should have predicted), the collaborative process of actually writing the script took longer than planned. Much longer.
It extended throughout the entire āweek offāā¦
ā¦it was on my mind over the weekendā¦
ā¦and then it pushed over into Monday this week.
Before I knew it, I was having to push other client work back into next week (thank goodness I work with such nice people; they were super understanding).
But this meant I was actively losing money that I would normally expect to have earned in a normal week.
By Wednesday, I had lost exactly as much money in usual client work as I had made from the additional script.
By Friday, as I came to finish the script, I had actually lost more in regular client income than I had made from the script.
Donāt get me wrong, this new client has been extremely graceful from start to finish, and Iāve gotten to work on a cool channel that I liked! No one forced me to do the script, and it was a fun project.
But I couldnāt shake my frustration at now feeling more burned out than ever, as well as having made less money than I would have if Iād spent my week off literally staring at a wall š
But Iām sure Iām not alone in having felt like thisā¦
A lot of freelancers struggle to switch off. They struggle to turn down work. They struggle to think clearly when the option to collaborate with cool people comes up.
Many would probably say this is a good thing - if you really love your craft, you should be willing to make sacrifices.
And actually, I donāt regret the decision to write the script at all. Iāve met some awesome new people AND learned a much-needed lesson about forcing myself to have boundaries.
Having said that, I hope I remember my own advice next time Iām faced with a similar choiceā¦
The Lesson
If you say youāre having a week offā¦ have a week off.
Thatās all for this week! Back to Retention Review next week.
Let me know how you deal with setting your own boundaries as a freelancer, either in reply to this email or on Twitter.
All the best,
(a very tired) George š“