Do You Know What to Do When Things Don’t Go Your Way?
The ever-entertaining freelance writer Kathy recounts her problematic Fourth of July experience:
It should come as no surprise then that instead of soaking up rays and wading in the pool, I spent the actual holiday dodging rain showers and fighting off the shivers. At least the conversation was occasionally stimulating. I suppose there’s always next year. Now do you think I can put all my problematic clients on the backburner for 365 days? Screw the best and worst laid plans. Neither ever turns out the way you planned.
Amen to that!
Let’s all accept that things will screw up at one point or another, s%*t happens, and that Murphy’s Law will always rear its ugly head? So how do we deal with life’s uncertainties, fellow freelancers? We plan for them as best as we can.
In practical terms, this means creating contingencies or redundancies for screw-ups. Regular back-ups save you from failed hard disks, maintaining your own copy of all agreements protects you from misunderstandings, and stashing a reserve worth 6 months of your usual monthly income help you deal with those slow business days.
Out of all the words coming from some Hardy Boys Survival Guide, only these have stuck with the last decade: It’s better to need and not have, than to have and not need. In other words, never think of contingencies as a waste of your time and money. If you have no safety net to lean back on in case of disaster, it’ll be a more time-consuming and expensive experience.
And, if you’ll allow my not-so-hidden geek side to say something, he’ll tell you that on Federation starships (like the USS Enterprise), all crucial systems enjoy triple, even quadruple redundancies. Meaning there’s a secondary, tertiary, and even a quaternary system to take over in case the primary fails. Why do you think Captain Kirk and Picard, as well as their respective crews, survived all these years?
Freelancing is a very dynamic career, full of its own ups and downs. Do you have a system to bank on in case things go wrong? Are you aware that in everything you do, there’s always a chance that it won’t go your way?
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POSTED IN: Great Advice, Living as a Freelancer
2 opinions for Do You Know What to Do When Things Don’t Go Your Way?
Alfa
Jul 7, 2007 at 10:13 am
Emergency fund, redundant Internet connection, and eternal gig hunting - these are what keep me feel somewhat safe.
Rico
Jul 7, 2007 at 10:32 am
A practical security blanket perhaps? :)
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