I have no idea what’s going on right now. Am I being hit from the front or from behind, they just kind of jumped me. I have an estimate to do, there is some development in the works and a blank .psd file that isn’t designing itself at the moment. Oh yeah, and I am in Canada on a semi-holiday to boot.

This is the storm they all said would come. That first three months were all about calming oneself, creating that zen-like freelance self we all so desire. The morning swims, the chilled out coffee on the deck and knocking off at 6:00 pm for a glass of red… ah yes, those were the days.

But grandpa’s knee is swelling up just a bit, and that’s a bad sign.

The calm before the storm

First it was just estimates. One after another they kept coming in… first from friends or colleagues, then general cold calls and then the tyre kickers came knocking.

The estimates were a bitch at the start. There was no system at all but once we got the templates going and some sort of idea on how much to charge or how long certain jobs would take it just starting getting a bit easier.

Pretty soon I was back on the deck drinking my morning coffee (after my morning swim) whilst kicking out a few estimates per day for a few decent jobs. Pffft, who said this freelancing gig was hard?

The storm

Hold on, now we have to start working on some of these estimates (you know, the ones that actually want us to do the work!) and while that was happening we started getting more estimates and a few invites to speak at conferences… damn, where am I going to find the time for that?

It’s funny, the last 4 years I attended Web Directions I would happily shut down my computer at work (a little too happily some might add) and turn my brain into ‘conference mode’. Workshops, conference, booze-ups - repeat and rinse.

Web Directions South 2008 was a very different one for me this year. No turning into full conference mode, there was a bit of flicking back and forth all-day, all-night.

Workshop, phone call in the hall, workshop, quick email check (star some, answer two), workshop, hand out “i like code” t-shirts, go home to work late seeing I didn’t work all day, conference, hand out t-shirts, hand out t-shirts, hand out t-shirts, conference, check email… you get the point.

Damn, when did this happen? I remember days off used to be fun :-)

The umbrella, the tarp and the bus shelter

I think there is a point in freelancing that you start to figure out the tools you need, then you kind of go back to what you were doing and forget about them because that’s gonna cost money and I really, really haven’t allocated funds for those items yet.

And now, I am starting to realise I can’t get by without some of these things that other people have in their own offices, or say “you should do this or you will regret it” in recent Web Directions presentations. I am now, officially, on your page.

Accounting software, whiteboards with little magnets, post-its and pens. These may not be exactly what I need but a mixture of similar items will create a system to create a nice shelter for me to work more efficiently, with more ease and bring the throbbing vein on my forehead back into line.

Now I gotta go, I am busy… these are the diaries of a freelancer.