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Cut Back Your Television… Like You Should Those Marlboros

Johnny
Posted: February 5th, 2009

I would be lying if I said television wasn’t a big part of who I am. I would estimate that I spent around five years of my life up to now actually glued to it, too. Yep, part of the original MTV generation. Despite the fact that probably half of those five years were watching reruns, I wouldn’t call that whole period a complete waste of time. I suppose I could have been outside making treehouses but what’s done is done. I’m happy to be a product of the original cable TV.

Now fast forward to today and it’s a completely different story. While I haven’t stopped watching TV 100%, I rarely turn the thing on anymore. The primary reason is my desire to be productive. While I have my freelance job as a programmer, I still have my own side projects and other goals aside from that. Television would cut the time devoted to those to practically zero.

Well, just today I ran into an article by Trent Hamm who gives ten financial reasons to turn off your television and ten things to replace it with. I’ve pretty much weaned myself from the TV but here were a couple reasons to turn it off that caught my attention:

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Category: General Rants
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Is This A Booming Time For Freelancers… Or Not?

Johnny
Posted: January 27th, 2009

It’s nothing new that news of the economy, wherever you are at, just gets worse as the year progresses. What I find interesting, though, is that I hear mixed news as far as the sutuation of freelancers in this crappy economy. If you get a hold of a report from a major player like CNN it’s easy to convince yourself that, hey, I won’t be affected.

On the flip side, I see a lot of news and advice from sites such as Freelance Switch and Freelance Folder that have tips on surviving the economic trouble. These all seem to conflict each other. I mean is this a time where freelancers should be celebrating or maybe worrying a little that they could become a casualty if they don’t act now?

Well, the answer is pretty simple. Prepare yourself but be optimistic. Does that mean we worry about the economy, too? Sure, but let’s not panic just yet.

As a freelancer, myself included, you should expect steady work from clients to slow down and possibly even stop. Even if things look peachy at the moment, everything can change in the blink of an eye. Preparations should follow suit. That means updating the resume, hitting the job boards, calling up old clients, and being prepared to find more work on a dime if need be. This doesn’t mean it’s time to scream Holy Shit! to yourself. First of all, yes, this is becoming a freelancer economy and, second, there will always be jobs available no matter how bad things get.

The bad economy is also a good time to take advantage of the slowdown, if you can afford to do so. You have to remember recessions are cyclical and a “boom” usually follows. So now is a great time to take up that project you had in mind or write that ebook you’ve always put off doing. Even a personal friend of mine is using all of this year to start up his urban clothing business in time for the expected rise in the economy next year. This is despite a looming threat of being layed off himself.

Now is a good time to be optimistic even though the good economic times seem far away.

Category: General Rants
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Who Doesn’t Want To Hang Around Freelancers?

Johnny
Posted: January 20th, 2009

I came across a blog article today by “Amy” at quietrebelwriter.com and read a funny little article. Here’s a bit I liked:

What, you think you can afford to be picky? Hallelujah and pass the ammunition, what the hell are you smoking? [...] You can’t afford to be choosy! You can’t rely on your talent to pay the bills! You can’t negotiate! They’re all gonna laugh at you!!

Now, you may not see what I see what I do in this but the first thing that struck me was she (almost) used a rather famous quote that’s a personal favorite of mine. That I’ll save for some other blog though. What really struck me was that I finally realized this is the kind of community that freelancers are made up of: optimists and good humored fun people. People that could tap into your circle of friends and probably would fun to have a beer with.

I’ll admit, I’m pretty new to the freelance community. In fact I’ve really only begun to visit other freelance blogs within the past month. I can’t help, though, but to spend more and more time reading those I found and searching for new ones like Amy’s. All of them have the same thing in common, too. They provide good advice on how to succeed in freelancing and offer a little entertainment as a side dish.

I don’t think there is a better time than now to ride in the wave of freelancing. There are so many resources, stories, guides, blogs, you name it that you can already get an impression on how it will be like before even starting. The best part is that they are all overwhelmingly positive and helpful. You rarely find articles or stories of someone’s failed attempt at a freelance career.

Just surrounding yourself with optimism alone will take you far in anything you do. If your a freelancer, join in the community, read the blogs and take in the positive vibes. You’ll see what a change it makes in your outlook on freelancing.

Well, cheers to Amy and off to read more blogs…

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Yes, Freelancers Sometimes Struggle But…

Johnny
Posted: January 13th, 2009

I know I’ve had my fair share of rough times in freelancing. Who hasn’t had to wait for that late payment to pay the already late rent? I’ve been stiffed here or there, too.

Then from ChrisDiclerico.com, I came across a story of Corey, a 21 year old homeless computer geek working night shifts at a New York City Kinko’s:

He bathes in churches, spending $20 a week on mouthwash, shaving cream, and other necessities. The self-taught Midwestern transplant earns money by helping people with their computer problems at Kinko’s come nightfall. During the day, he uses the ghetto-tech computer equipment, he discovered in a dumpster, to surf the Internet at Starbucks (picking up free wireless waves from the neighborhood). Is he surfing monster.com for a job? “No. What’s the point? No one will hire you if you don’t have an address.” Instead, he’ll navigate local news and spend most of his time in Yahoo! Chat rooms trying to find his soul mate. “I have to admit, I have quite a way with the ladies. Especially the big ones. I like mine big.”

I think I’ve seen it all now. I’m off to find my sugar momma!

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What Does Freedom (At Work) Really Mean?

Johnny
Posted: November 5th, 2008

I remember all the way back when I was sixteen years old, I had at the time a job which I thought had the greatest freedom that a job could possibly have. To an extent it still holds true to me today. You see, I worked in a rather rundown cheesesteak shop (without a sign I might add) inside a large shopping mall. The pay was borderline free for my employers here but I had it made.

I worked alone most times, made myself a sandwich when I felt like it, called my friends, gave free food to my friends once in a while and cut out early nearly every day I worked. Don’t tell mom but I even drank beers from next door in the back room. I probably would have worked there for free if they would have inevitably fired me (which they didn’t).

Although this wouldn’t fly in today’s place of employement (that sandwich shop did close down by the way) we still have an idea of what kind of freedoms are ideal for us in the workplace. Can you picture a drunk tank where you can clock in and sleep until you sober up? How about just coming in whenever you feel like it, having a two hour lunch or having a beer while you’re at a meeting?

It would seem our perception of freedom in the workplace is derived from wanting to skirt the rules our so-called superiors set for their employees which is true in a sense. Workplace freedom is, however, the desire to break free from the CONTROL that our employers have to place on us in order to for us conform and do our jobs.

Though I hate to use political references, you can view this employer control as a kind of socialism where your freedoms (to come in late, drunk, etc.) are suppressed for the productivity of the whole, which is the company. The downside to this is that it is totally necessary for a company to survive. OK, maybe there are exceptions like the Google campus, but we all can’t work there, can we?

Then there are the freelancers who would be the democratic adversary to the “socialist” company. A freelancer’s freedom, however, isn’t what you’d expect. Sure, you can expect to sleep in and wake up hungover once in while but what you would actually consider freedom in the workplace actually becomes a distraction to the freelancer.

Control for a freelancer is not placed in the hands of another but within himself. It is ironic that this complete control often drives new freelancers to quit and go back to their jobs. After all, YOU have to look for your own work, manage your own business and make sure you are making ends meet and then some so you can continue. This is all on top of the actual work you do. This added responsibility often drives people to quit freelancing or to not even start at all.

The truth is freelancing does have it’s learning curve and there are certainly going to be times where what you are earning will become an issue. The way to deal with that control, however, is to use it to your advantage. In other words, learn the ropes, take your punches and keep on rolling. I’ll admit that it’s easier said than done but when the end of that learning comes near you won’t regret it. Only then you’ll see what freedom at work really is.

Category: General Rants
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The Revolution Will Not Add You As A MySpace Friend

Johnny
Posted: October 19th, 2008

I hate to admit it, but I think I’m stuck as a part of the product that evolution has brought about our world. In other words, I’m glued to a 19″ flatscreen for a good chunk of the day… every day. On one hand, I’m employed, earn a living and can keep in touch with friends rather easily (I’m residing in Spain). I look into the flatscreen, type a few keystrokes and checks come in the mail on time every month. What a concept, huh?

Though I do not take for granted my means of supporting myself, I do loathe my dependancy on computers to the point where I notice it and try to somehow break free of the habit. Think about it… what’t the first thing you do when you wake in the morning? Check email? News? ESPN? Yep, I’m guilty of all of those.

I got rid of my TV long ago just for this reason. To take up other “creative” outlets such as reading, learning Catalan and mastering my flamenco guitar. The sad news (or pathetic) is none of which has been realized. The reality is that just the internet has taken the reins of occupying my free time. I have no idea of why the NBA draft intrigues me 2000 miles away and without actually having seen an NBA basketball game in six years.

For starters, I’ve decided to take control and start writing, as you can see. Quite ironic since it still keeps me in front of the flatscreen but, hey, a start is a start. It’s funny, but I do notice a change in my way of thinking and I am slightly more motivated to tackle those previously mentioned outlets. One thing and one day at a time I have to keep telling myself.

One thing is that I’m very lucky to live in a rather large city (Barcelona) that isn’t modern, by American (or MySpace) standards anyway. People here communicate face to face. Not through some rented website message board. Blackberries are still common, but amongst the yuppies. The “hip” community looks down on it though as if it were a tool of the devil. The most popular of advanced technology around these parts is blasting reggaeton mp3′s from a cell phone. It’s rather cheesy but luckily, for the sake of maintaining human interaction, it hasn’t progressed a whole lot further.

I am also glad to say I haven’t given in to all that MySpace or Facebook crap that I keep hearing about. I have amused myself and visited some of my friends pages, albeit anonymously. There’s no way to respond to them without creating an account myself but I’m still not selling myself out to those quite yet. My local friends around the hood in Barcelona hang around one of the fifty bars within a rock throw’s distance of my flat. Now that I like though it already opened a new can of worms which I won’t get into here.

Which now brings me to my point… I’m a freelancer and proud of it. We are a breed that sets ourselves apart from all the rest who are managed and kept on a short leash for the most part. OK, I hear those jobs at Google and pretty much whatever tech mega company aren’t so bad. I have my freedom though. The freedom to fuck off when I feel like it. The freedom to work a 50 hour week if I’m in the mood.

That freedom comes with the freedom to do something creative or good for mankind on your downtime. I’m checking up on the NBA draft on my downtime so I might as well be back giving tech support and hawking software at my old cubical job.

From here on out, I promise to be creative on my downtime. I’ll check a score or two for sure but if you see this article in an archive of hundreds of articles then that means I lived up to that promise. Check me on it if you will.

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