It’s Friday! I’ve had a busy week working freelance at a design agency, but today I am at home. ‘At home’ still means working, but I get to spend the day with the pooch for company.
I’m so happy that freelancing has taken a turn for the better over the last few weeks, the agency I’ve been working at have had a busy period. It’s fantastic to have some money coming in a couple of days a week as it takes the pressure off a bit, but I am still ‘working for myself’. I can pick and choose when and how I work, which is liberating.
I know that I’m not likely to get work every single week, but I have been given the names of other agencies that work with freelancers and am going to meet with one next week. It’s so great to be able to work at a variety of places and on different projects from day to day.
In the first couple of weeks after I quit my full-time job I alternated on a daily basis between loving life and feeling sick with anxiety thinking I’d made a big mistake. The place I had been working at had totally stripped me of all my confidence in my skills with the lack of value they had placed on me and my colleagues. I felt like because that company was a bit of a ‘mickey mouse’ company, maybe my skills were not real or good enough either.
The first day I went into a design office to freelance I was terrified. I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to complete any tasks they gave me that I nearly turned the car round and went home. I was sure that as soon as they saw the work I did they would laugh me out of the place and tell me to never darken their doorway again.
To some extent I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing a lot of the time. I think most people that work for themselves often feel that way. You get used to having someone that is ‘in charge’ of you when you’re employed, so although it’s cool to no longer have that, it can also feel very daunting. I have to remind myself that it doesn’t really matter how you get something done, as long as you have something to show and you have done your best that’s all that matters. Everyone works differently, and if you don’t know how to do something, ask. Or Google it. Thank god for Google.
Every design/marketing agency works differently, and when you freelance you’re obviously not there all week every week. It can be hard to pick up where someone has left off on a project, and it’s sometimes hard to get a feel for a company and brand quickly when they need some new designs creating and you’re only in the office for one day.
It is, however, totally rewarding. If I don’t like a workplace, or don’t agree with the way they run things, I don’t have to go back. Simples. I can work with companies I like and admire, and I get to meet new people everywhere I go. The new people thing is a whole other anxiety based blog post that I will save for another time…so look forward to that one 😉
Love always, Meg x
When life gives you lemons... 