Comments on: Tuesday Take: Declining Freelance Work

By: Weekly translation favorites (Oct 28-Nov 10)

Weekly translation favorites (Oct 28-Nov 10) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 14:09:21 +0000

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By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 17:53:41 +0000

In reply to Krista. LOL! Funny how that happens. :)

By: Krista

Krista — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 14:27:48 +0000

In reply to lwidmer.

Yes, exactly! I’m LESS stressed now that I have a toddler–go figure. 🙂

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 14:17:31 +0000

In reply to Krista.

Not hard to believe at all, Krista. I learned too that the minute you charge more, you get better clients and your workload is much more manageable.

It does feel great, doesn’t it? 🙂 Now if you’re crazy busy, it’s because you want to be, not because you have to be. 🙂

By: Krista

Krista — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 12:49:49 +0000

Have been freelancing for going on 10 years. Until I had my son two years ago, my viewpoint was “work more, earn more.” I rarely turned down work, even when I was already overbooked. Sometimes I would work 15-16 hour days for weeks on end. When he arrived, I decided to work 25-30 hours a week. I have three days of childcare each week, so my mindset shifted to “I need to make as much as possible in the hours I have available.” I have turned down a ton of projects that I felt didn’t pay enough. I’m less burnt out and (hard to believe) have had my two best years of freelancing. I finally feel like I have the right to say no and, I gotta say, it feels great. 🙂

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 18:24:38 +0000

In reply to Paula Hendrickson.

LOL Paula, I’m glad those resume skills came in handy. 🙂

Great story, too. Imagine if you hadn’t turned down that first one — you’d have denied yourself a raise!

By: Paula Hendrickson

Paula Hendrickson — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 15:34:51 +0000

I had to turn down a nice assignment from a regular client when I was neck deep in a huge project for another fairly regular client. They were similar jobs, and unfortunately the one I had to turn down paid quite a bit more. My editor understood and a couple weeks later—after she knew that killer deadline had passed—she assigned an even larger and more lucrative project. I’m working on that now.

And guess what? I’m using a lot of the skills I once used as a resume writer to help condense the entries for the project. Sometimes things can come full circle in a good way.

By: lwidmer

lwidmer — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 14:08:47 +0000

In reply to Sharon Hurley Hall.

Thanks, Sharon. I think we complicate the “no” scenario entirely too much.

I wrote resumes for nearly seven years — I’d rather not anymore. I liked it when I started, but I think there’s a burnout point, and I surpassed it.

By: Sharon Hurley Hall

Sharon Hurley Hall — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 11:54:17 +0000

Great scripts writers can build on, Lori. Sometimes you just have to say no. I’m with you on the resumes. I did them for a while and now I can’t stand them, either.