My Freelance Sabbatical Begins at the Start of October (Or Sooner Depending on the Queue)
I've committed to my sabbatical, reducing my main client workload to just assigning strategists and no more than 5,000 words per month effective October, through at least the end of the year.
It's a "poor mate's sabbatical" for sure; what I really need is a 100 percent sabbatical, but it's the difference between losing half a month's rent each month, vs. losing one-quarter. Plus, doing it this way keeps my foot in the door there, which I feel is important.
I'm way, way overdue on a bunch of work for them, so my hand was forced. No bravery in this act. I waited too long. But I got there. This has been building for a couple of years. Next month, possibly sooner, will be my first true freedom (well, with asterisks, but we take what we can get) since I lived on the Mountain.
I celebrated today by denying myself the french fries I wanted after plasma, lol. Now that my income is officially negative, it's back to living very austerely. Not that I was exactly toasting champagne and caviar, but the frivolity has been probably between $100 and $200 a month, and that's got to go way down. Luckily, I am going through my annual food stamp review this week, and have been preliminarily approved for continued benefits. I am very grateful. I also get to send then a fax in a couple days! I love sending faxes!!
I did treat myself to another container of those wonderful pickle spears from Target. I'm currently glugging down the brine of the last one. The pickle texture is not the best, but the flavor is pure action! I also treated myself to a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. I mean, "treated," this is all food stamps, but it's still treats in spirit.
I will be extremely focused on work for the rest of this week, to try and dig out from my backlog. I didn't get any respite over the weekend, so I am sapped. I could go to bed right now, but since it's pure overcast and raining outside I'm making the day last a bit longer.
It's a "poor mate's sabbatical" for sure; what I really need is a 100 percent sabbatical, but it's the difference between losing half a month's rent each month, vs. losing one-quarter. Plus, doing it this way keeps my foot in the door there, which I feel is important.
I'm way, way overdue on a bunch of work for them, so my hand was forced. No bravery in this act. I waited too long. But I got there. This has been building for a couple of years. Next month, possibly sooner, will be my first true freedom (well, with asterisks, but we take what we can get) since I lived on the Mountain.
I celebrated today by denying myself the french fries I wanted after plasma, lol. Now that my income is officially negative, it's back to living very austerely. Not that I was exactly toasting champagne and caviar, but the frivolity has been probably between $100 and $200 a month, and that's got to go way down. Luckily, I am going through my annual food stamp review this week, and have been preliminarily approved for continued benefits. I am very grateful. I also get to send then a fax in a couple days! I love sending faxes!!
I did treat myself to another container of those wonderful pickle spears from Target. I'm currently glugging down the brine of the last one. The pickle texture is not the best, but the flavor is pure action! I also treated myself to a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread. I mean, "treated," this is all food stamps, but it's still treats in spirit.
I will be extremely focused on work for the rest of this week, to try and dig out from my backlog. I didn't get any respite over the weekend, so I am sapped. I could go to bed right now, but since it's pure overcast and raining outside I'm making the day last a bit longer.