Expressions – Bhagwad Jal Park

With no one to guide us, and no one to push us, we have to rely on our own radar, and then one is reminded of Shakespeare’s words – “To thine own self be true, for thou canst not then be false to any other man”.

It’s amazing how many things can come between us and our work. An interesting piece of news, that mail from a forgotten friend, an article which cannot be missed. And before you know it, half the day (or more) has gone and we’ve barely begun our work.

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Procrastination kills freelance work

I’ve come to realize that freelancing makes you confront yourself and your motivations. It is the ultimate in self discipline precisely because it is not forced on you. You work for yourself alone, and you are accountable to yourself alone. No one to blame, and nowhere to run.

Of course I enjoy my work. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to stick to it for so long. But we have to watch out and keep focused. It’s constant self improvement. And that makes me a better person in the end.

My latest article on my economics column on outsourcing has garnered quite a lot of response. Funny thing. I never expected it to. I felt that it was overly simplistic and would get blasted out of the water! But that always happens with me. Articles which I feel are not great always catch me off guard with the response they get whereas the articles I feel are great……well, y’know.

I’ve rarely faced this problem, thank God, but it’s something that every freelance writer has had to think about – “What if my buyer doesn’t pay me if he doesn’t like what I wrote for him?”

Some buyers feel that they have an obligation to pay a writer only if they like the output. At first glance, this kind of makes sense. After all, I didn’t get what I asked for, so why should I pay? Let’s leave aside for the moment, unscrupulous buyers who use this as an excuse not to pay.

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First of all, when a buyer hires a freelancer, they’re hiring his effort and his time. The fact that they hired him in the first place means that they are willing to put their money on their judgmental capability. Not paying a freelancer after they have written a piece of work is like refusing to pay a restaurant because they didn’t like their beef steak. The restaurant wouldn’t let them go would they? But it happens to freelancers all the time because there is almost no one to enforce payment.

Second, all writing has an opportunity cost. If freelancers spend time writing for a buyer, it means that they can’t do anything else for that period of time. They could spend that time writing for job that will give them a sure shot payment. By spending that time working on an assignment, they’re trusting the buyer to pay up. Otherwise, it’s a very real loss for the freelancer, as time is money.

Fortunately, most buyers understand this and do the decent thing by paying up even if they don’t like the work. After all, it is frequently due to miscommunication about the requirements that this happens.

Well, I’ve arrived, and let me say, it’s bloody difficult! I thought that being a Freelancer, I could just whip out my laptop and work away whenever I wanted to right?

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Wrong! More than anything, I realize that a good freelancer has to have a schedule. I know that lots of people feel that freelancing is cushy and that you have all the free time and flexibility in the world. To a large extent there is some truth in that, but what most people don’t realize is that unless you have a schedule that you stick to day in and day out, you’re not going to make it.

Reliability plays a big role in being a freelancer, and for me, I find that I can only be reliable when my affairs are settled. Finding an apartment, getting furniture, food, a phone connection and an Internet connection completely threw me off my work and it’s only now when I have a semblance of sanity, am I able to get back to a good schedule.

My net connection hasn’t been set up at home yet, so I have to work from a wifi hotspot. I had to find a relatively quite place before I could settle down. It’s tough adjusting to a new schedule, but things seem to be on track finally. My buyers have been very patient and understanding about my move. Hopefully I will be able to justify their confidence in me!

Just waiting for my Internet Connection to be set up at home now before I resume my lazy little life. Here’s hoping that all turns out well.