MeDirected » freelance http://www.medirected.com My Life Redirected Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:45:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Working on My Time http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/working-on-my-time/ http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/working-on-my-time/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:20:11 +0000 mike http://www.medirected.com/?p=100 This morning I woke up at 10am (after going to bed at 3:40am), ate a light breakfast, spent the better part of the morning dancing with my daughter (we’re getting ready for a wedding next week), did about 2 hours of work on my dissertation, answered some emails, sent out some DVDs to customers, did a hill running circuit workout with my wife (using my daughter for resistance on calisthenics) and then ate a nice lunch. Now, since I’ve met my minimum daily requirement for dissertation work and have caught up on my HPC duties I’m taking a break to do some things I want to do (blog, update facebook, finish up some updates on my website, and read my favorite RSS feeds). Sounds like a nice day huh? This is what I like about my current working situation….I can work and play on MY time. I’m not stuck to the 9-5 (actually more like 9-7 at my last job) and I’m allowed to work to my strengths and minimize the negative affects of my weaknesses. That’s my workday. At least the start of it. Now don’t get me wrong. That’s not all I plan on doing today. In fact, in about an hour or so I’ll probably be back doing some real work and will likely be doing SOMETHING productive until about 3am. I’d guess that I’m probably putting in about as much or more time than I was when I was working at West Point in the day and running HPC in the evening. The difference is now I’m able to do it on my time.

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]]> http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/working-on-my-time/feed/ 1 Sleep http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/sleep/ http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/sleep/#comments Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:13:21 +0000 mike http://www.medirected.com/?p=93 Since I’ve left my full time job at West Point, I’ve pretty much been able to go to sleep and wake up when I want. Normally, I’m a super-late night owl forced to operate on a ‘normal’ 9-5 day. If left to my own devices, I’m more likely to still be awake at 5am than to wake up by 5am. I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. My Dad’s kinda like that too. In fact, my thought processing, creativity, and productivity seem to peak around 11pm and stay high for 4-5 hours. Unfortunately, this didn’t work real well in the ‘real world’ since you’re kinda forced to operate on the ‘day-walkers‘ schedule.

My new schedule is much more my style and I’m feeling better for it. I’m getting about 6 hours of sleep a night…up from 5 when I work a ‘normal’ job and I’m much less likely to feel tired during the day. The reason I’m writing about this is because I recently read an article that alluded to what I’ve personally known about myself for a long time….that staying up late and sleeping in makes me more productive. While some people look at the time you wake up and immediately think that makes you lazy…I look at them and think how lazy they are for going to bed at 9 or 10pm….My second work day starts at 10pm!

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 ]]> http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/sleep/feed/ 1 Freelancer or Entrepreneur http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/freelancer-or-entrepreneur/ http://www.medirected.com/2008/08/freelancer-or-entrepreneur/#comments Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:20:51 +0000 mike http://www.medirected.com/?p=79 One of my favorites websites that I like to check out is Freelanceswitch. I check it out several times a week. The site is full of useful information for people who are trying to make it on their own as freelancers.

On the web, especially in the areas of web development, graphic design and blogging, those who are trying to make a living off of their skills are referred to as freelancers. In the world of business, people who are trying to make a living in small business are often called entrepreneurs. What’s the real difference? Wikipedia defines a freelancer as a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer and an entrepreneur as a person who has possession over a company, enterprise, or venture, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. Before looking up the definitions I didn’t know which category I’d fall in to. Right now, a decent amount of my income comes from speaking engagements and one off consulting gigs…that kinda sounds like freelancing. On the other hand, I have a company and am assuming the risks of the venture (no steady income, no benefits, possibility of flopping, etc). While I love the total freedom that freelancing provides, I’m hoping in a couple months (after I’m done with my dissertation) I can leave the freelance work behind for something more steady. The freelance work tends to be a little bit of a feast or famine, and while I’m fine with the risk, it’s probably not the best setup for the sole breadwinner of a family.

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