The Freelance Diaries: Week 1.0

Like the princess diaries but with less money and sadly no Julie Andrews.

As this has been my first week freelancing (if you wanna know more about why and what pushed me to move into freelancing after working for companies/venues full time then you can check out my previous blog post... shameless self plug) I wanted to keep a record of the things I've learnt what I've found difficult and generally how i'm finding it, mainly to check in on myself and force me to look at if I'm heading for burn out, obsessing or generally being unhealthy with my work/life balance, but also to share tips, ideas and thoughts with those of you who might be interested in taking the leap into freelancing, freelance already or what to know how you can do it. Also I know a lot of people (especially producers) can feel like it's a lonely place out there as a lot of the work tends to be alone on a laptop so if this can make people feel like it's not just them out there than that'll make me happy too.

This week has been a lot about settling in, finding my feet as well as enjoying some of the freedoms that come with freelance life too. I've really relished the chance to go to events and talks that I wouldn't usually be able to go to during the daytime as well as the chance to work a bit later into the evening. My brain functions really well from about 8.30am-12pm the completely nose dives from about 12.30-3pm and picks up again after 6pm so being able to work mourned that has been amazing good for me and my mental health as I don't feel that i'm forcing my self to stay at my laptop when nothing is going in. I've also loved meeting new people, setting up new notion boards for projects and doing bits and bobs I haven't been able to do for a while like script reading and note giving (more on this soon...) and writing again.

Some things I have also done that I think have really helped me, and I know this is dull but trust me on this, is really going through my monthly budgets for the next three/ four months with all of my known costs like rent, bills, phone, credit cards etc how much I use to live off so thats all food, drinks, show tickets, books, travel and then what I can save and still survive. Then all of my income so looking at payment schedules in my contracts and fee breakdowns etc so I know what is coming in when. While this took a little time it's really calmed my anxiety around knowing when I need to look for more work, which months I can save more to use later on in the year when I might not have as many gigs and all those things. When you're in a full time role you know what you're getting each month so this might not be something you do regularly or in this much depth but if you're freelancing I would 100% recommend if you don't do it already.

I've also really enjoyed mixing up WFH and working from other places like coffee shops to keep my mind fresh and the pressure of being around other people makes me work more!

So in summary positive take aways from this week:

- Budgeting ahead has lessened my anxiety and helped me plan for when I need to be seeking more opportunities

- Blending wfh and working away from home has really helped my workflow and headspace

- Working to my brains unique schedule has been really helpful for productivity

Things to work on, explore or change for next week:

- Look at calendar blocking to ensure im working the hours I need to and not adding too much extra time on that I need to keep for me

- Explore working with other people and how that sits with my brain

Tips for you:

- Budget in advance

- Trying getting out and about once a week to somewhere new to work!