Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Freelance fixation

When I made the leap from full-time employee to freelancer, my biggest worry was that there wouldn't be enough work to pay the bills. Eight business days in, however, and I'm as busy as ever. So far, anyway. That is good news.

On the flip side, all that extra time I thought I'd have for musical adventures hasn't materialized. I haven't done more songwriting, haven't seen more live shows, and practicing ... that's actually suffered.

It's weird. On the surface, I'm doing pretty much the same job-related tasks as I did before—I'm just doing it from my little office at home. But somehow the work is more addictive now. It's always there, beckoning seductively.

People talk about how you have to try not to let work take over when you do it out of your house. That kind of makes sense. I expected the work-life lines to blur a little. What I didn't expect was experiencing withdrawal symptoms when it came time to break for dinner.

I'm not complaining. It will be a long while before I can predict how often I'll be this busy. Until then, the more the better.

Still, if work keeps pushing music to the sidelines, music is going to have to find a way to push back.

2 comments:

jeffshattuck said...

It's a problem I know well. Give it time, things will balance out, I'm sure of it. Tip: have your instrument right next to you so you can take little breaks and play.

cinderkeys said...

My instrument is right behind me in this tiny office. If I reach out I can touch the piano bench. Hmm ...