Are you Happy as a Freelancer?

For someone who likes writing, being a freelancer is a dream job. On paper. You have a flexible schedule. You get to pick and choose the jobs you do. You act as your own boss. Insert any number of the other advantages here. But I think that often, we all get too caught up in the advantages that we never really take our current happiness into account. Let me explain what I mean.

When someone asks me what I do, I usually spend more than a few minutes explaining my job. I noticed recently that I always end the explanation by saying how much I love my job. I think, though, that when I explain my job, I idealize it.

Happiness is a strange beast. I have a friend who claims that he’s never truly been happy. I have another friend who deals with being bi-polar, so goes through bouts of extremely happiness (and extreme unhappiness). I’m of the opinion that you have to take the good with the bad. I’m not always happy, but I try to be happy as often as possible.

Being happy with your career plays a large part in whether or not you are happy with your life. After all, most people spend about half of their waking hours working. That brings me back to my original point – when I tell people about my job as a freelance writer, I talk about how happy I am doing it.

That’s not always true. There are many days where I’m extremely unhappy as a freelancer. Clients have made me cry with nasty comments. Online services have made me frustrated with unreliability. Hard-to-research topics have made me want to throw my computer across the room. I’ve been stressed, I’ve been bored, and I’ve been upset. Being a writer isn’t always as glamorous as it sounds.

I’m ok with that because, for me, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I have questioned my happiness as a freelancer, though, and I hope you do too. Don’t be “happy” as a freelancer just because you’re supposed to be. Yes, it is a great job, but it isn’t a great job for everyone, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting defeat. It really isn’t even a defeat – it is simply admitting that you’re better suited for a different job.

Sometimes, it helps to just step away from writing a little. About nine months ago, that’s exactly what I did. I was burned out and constantly in a bad mood about having to do writing work. The economy also sucked, and many of my old clients weren’t ordering work, so I was financially stressed like I haven’t been since I started freelancing. I was losing sleep over it, forgetting to eat, and feeling upset all the time. After a few months, I realized that I wasn’t happy as a freelancer. And that’s ok.

Image: sxc.hu

I made the choice to get a part-time job. I still continued to write part-time as well, but I began working at a day care 15 to 20 hours per week. It allowed me to be more picky about the writing work I took, and meet people in the community.

As of two weeks ago, my time at the day care is over for the most part. I’m still going to be a part of their emergency staff (people to come in when multiple teachers call off sick or otherwise can’t come in), but over the last few months, I’ve really missed writing, subconsciously. I started loading up my writing schedule beyond what was possible if I only wanted to work part time. It just happened; it wasn’t something I planned.

Now that I have had some time to reflect on my decision, I think I made good choices. It was good to admit that I wasn’t happy and pull away from freelancing a little. I also think it is a good decision, at this point, to go back to freelancing full time. I’m ready for it, like a recharged battery.

I’ll be watching my happiness meter, though – and I hope you all do too. We can’t love our jobs every single day, but if you’re at a point where writing is causing you mental and physical health problems, it is time to reevaluate your job. Remember, walking away doesn’t mean that you don’t still love writing. Sometimes, we just need a break.