Photo by Philipyk (Flickr)
Happens every year. I’ve been freelancing for eight years so you would think I could see this coming but every time it’s the same.
Beautiful day out, people walking around. Ice cream cones in hand.
Friends calling from nowhere. “Hey, let’s get a quick beer” at 2:00 in the afternoon (No that wasn’t today).
I practically know every trick in the book to motivate myself to getting back to work. Yet it gets me every time around.
Summertime. You can just hear that Fresh Prince song in your head now, can’t you?
There’s plenty of work to be done, a blog post to be written, emails to answer, tweets to send. Yet all I can think about is heading down to the beach and taking in that comfy 73º F (23 C) heat outside.
You know what? I’ll take the day off and I don’t even need an excuse.
Freelancing doesn’t equal job. Sure, there will always be work to be done and a good freelancer is a hard worker. Don’t take for granted, however, the advantages of time it offers you. Those moments you have to escape off and call a ditch-day are never regretted (in my experience anyway).
If you have to pull a Sunday/Monday all-nighter to get in that project on time (like I will), well, small price to pay. Fun summertime memories last a while though.
Take my lead but just don’t make it a frequent habit. THAT is bad.
And while we're on the subject...
Jon Buscall
June 8th, 2010 at 7:24 amNice one, J! Seriously, I would love to get some serious sunshine. We’re only pushing 19°C here in Sweden at the moment. Just hope the heat is around the corner. Of course it’s light nearly all the time because we’re so far north.
It can be stressful being a freelancer so it’s important to get some life balance. So I say: “Go for it” and enjoy a beer for me.
Jon Buscall´s last blog ..The Mobile Net IS the Net
Tweets that mention That Damn Excuse We Call Summer - The Freelance Rant -- Topsy.com
June 8th, 2010 at 3:44 pm[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Johnny Spence, Theispot.com. Theispot.com said: That Damn Excuse We Call Summer /via FreelanceRant http://ht.ly/1VE5t [...]
Heath Gordon
June 8th, 2010 at 4:35 pmI find that even going for a walk at lunchtime helps cure me of the summertime blues. I also compromise and take my laptop to a coffeeshop locally that has a patio.
One of the reasons I started freelancing in the first place was to so I could work where I want, when I want.
Heath Gordon´s last blog ..Pro Tip: Submit Queries on Saturday
Johnny
June 8th, 2010 at 5:57 pm@Jon – You said it best… balance and that needs no excuse. Don’t worry, too. That beer was nice and tasty.
Johnny
June 8th, 2010 at 6:00 pm@Heath – I do the lunchtime walk too. Problem is I see too many happy tourists with their sunburns so I have no choice but to join them. I found, though, that working late at night helps to alleviate that a bit.
Summertime – Scourge of the Freelancer — The Modern Freelancer
June 8th, 2010 at 10:25 pm[...] over at the Freelance Rant had a short piece on how he deals with summer. Basically, his point is that he can take off any [...]