Working Through Emotional Times

by Rico on June 17th, 2007

My parents found success as corporate workers, but freelancers and contract workers can learn a thing or two from them. Since she worked in the office during the day, she left my older sister (she was still a baby and this happened before I was born) with a maid. Now, it wasn’t hard for my mom to trust her daughter and then only child to this maid, since the domestic worker was around for year now. Turns out that trust was broken.

The maid called over some relatives, and they proceeded to ransack the house of valuables, like my mom’s jewelry and the TV. She followed the group, taking my sister along for the ride, and dropped off the stolen goods in a friends’ house. Amazingly, after the deed was done, she returned to the house with her charge and pretended nothing happened.

A foolish plan indeed. For when my parents went home and found their things missing, they only had the maid to suspect. She finally confessed under persistent interrogation at the nearest police station, and happily my parents got everything back. The next day, my parents went back to work, leaving my sister with an aunt. So what’s the point of this story, and what can freelancers learn from it?

Obviously, my parents aren’t automatons. They, like any other human being, experience emotions, and the first thing that entered their head when everything was clear was horror. They were tremendously lucky that the maid and her relatives followed such a ridiculous plan—without thinking of kidnapping my older sister. But the fact remained that they still had jobs to do, and never thought of shirking their responsibilities scheduled for the following day. In other words, they felt the despair associated with broken trust and the possibility of losing a loved one. But once they were sure everything was fine they didn’t let the incident interfere with their productivity, knowing that they had to continue fulfilling their commitments.

Suppressing It… Moderately

A variety of emotions ran through my parents’ heads during that day. Among them shock, anger, and sadness. But they never let their emotions dictate their actions, thinking things through and working to solve the problem as quickly as possible. Of course, you can only suppress your natural reactions so much. When the burden was too much to bear, my parents called a break and took their time expressing their feelings to each other. Once they were functional again, they went back to the task at hand.

If a freelancer is experiencing personal problems, then he should give it the time it deserves. Though he should never lose sight of what he has to do. It’s wonderful, and even healthy, to express how you feel. Yet this should never come at the cost of your functionality. Only when everything’s done should you even consider taking that requisite day off. In short, suppress your emotions if they’re interfering with your productivity, but in moderation.

Learning From Mistakes

After they dealt with the inside job, my parents took the necessary steps to make sure it would never happen again. They did background checks whenever they hired a new domestic worker, and minimized temptation by keeping valuable articles in a safe place and out of sight. Since all their appliances were in the master’s bedroom, they also locked the door when they were out for the day.

A freelancer who commits a mistake, such as getting fooled by an unscrupulous client, or missing a deadline for a particularly important customer, should analyze the situation to find out what went wrong. And determine how to minimize, or even eliminate, the possibility of repeats. They can require a client to sign a contract before the next project can begin, or allot more time to ensure better output. If there’s a chance a freelancer can immediately make up for their mistake, they should scramble to immediately do so, doing their best to suppress any self-anger or despair created by the mistake.

Focus on the Positives

The possibility of my sister getting kidnapped was very scary, but my parents never focused on that. They were simply grateful that that didn’t happen. By focusing on the positive aspects of the situation, it was easier for them to recover from the ordeal. Naturally, their minds dwelt on the terrible what-ifs, but mainly to learn from the mistakes they made.

A freelancer trying to dig himself out of a hole should concentrate on what’s going for him. Thinking only about what’s wrong may paralyze him, feeding a vicious cycle where more negativity limits the possibility of solving the problem, and the ever-escalating problem increases the negativity. And if the situation looks totally terrible, when everything is at the lowest of the low, then the only way is up.

Disasters and bad events can be emotional times. But time stops for no one, and if you’re not careful, the event will end up dictating your life. Which is something you definitely don’t want to happen, because it would be a waste of your skills and talents if you let the circumstances control your actions, by letting your emotions become the only influence on what you do.

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