I’ve been sick, down with the flu or some other dread malady, for the past several days. But there was something different about this time. This time I was on my own time.
That meant that I didn’t have to worry about what was going on at the office, an office without me there. I didn’t have to worry about something getting done, or done to the right quality, or things being completely missed. And I often worried about things that I couldn’t anticipate. What were they doing without me there to keep them in line?
No matter how overblown my opinion of myself might have been, when you’re an employee and you’re sick and away from the office, the worry makes it more difficult to recover.
When you’re a freelancer, you know exactly what’s going on. You can work with your customers and change schedules and deadlines, as I did, and give yourself time to do nothing but heal and recover. That is a remarkable freedom.
Yes, it’s true that when you’re not working, you’re not earning, but sometimes you just need to recover. Communicate with your customers; let them know your status. If you have good relationships with them you’ll find that they can be very flexible. And if they are not, you can decide later if you want to continue with them as customers.
Time is a freelancer’s greatest asset. Sometimes you have to spend it on yourself.
