In part 1 of this series, I discussed how I made a dramatic decision to leave a job I enjoyed to pivot to freelancing and working on personal projects. I was fortunate enough to make this decision voluntarily and while on good terms with my former employer, although I didn't have a comprehensive plan for what I was going to do after I left.
How It's Going
I've now been self-employed for a third of a year. This time has had its ups and downs and has been something of a wild ride. I didn't have a detailed plan for what I was going to do at first, but it's interesting to reflect on what I've been up to during that time.
Technical Writing Gigs
I have done a few technical writing gigs for various clients; I enjoy writing and educating. It's different from coding but is usually related to my experience in software engineering domains. I find it can pay well. I'm a decent writer, but despite my ability and experience writing, it can still be surprisingly difficult and mentally taxing work — particularly when you're writing about an area you don't necessarily have deep expertise in already, as considerable effort needs to be put into research, reading, and creating tests or benchmarks. I pride myself on being accurate and thorough and writing with a very high level of quality. So even with tools like ChatGPT to create outlines or "proofread drafts" (which it is not very good at, by the way), it still can take a surprisingly long time to write professional, high-quality technical content.
Job Hunting
During a lull in work and with mounting anxiety from my wife, I decided it would make sense to apply for full-time employment. Unfortunately, I was getting no responses to my applications. Apparently, it's not the easiest time to find software engineering work. (This may foreshadow a project I am about to start working on.) Disheartened, I went down a rabbit hole of improving my résumé and employability, enlisting the help of a coach specializing in software engineering, Jim Hodapp. As I reflected on what I wanted for my career and worked with my coach, I felt more strongly that the right path toward my long-term goals is for me to go the self-employed/small business route.
As the first couple of months went by, my former employer didn't contact me at all since I left, dispelling the delusion I once had that I was indispensable. It took them a while to hire a new developer, who was only able to start when the existing dev had his first baby, so they had me come in for one day to help with training. Not nearly enough for the poor new guy, who was struggling with such a short onboarding, but so far, this was as much as they were interested in using me.
Client Projects
Fortunately, friends and contacts directed clients to me, and I started a project rebuilding an older PHP site and a new project for a library system here in Alberta. It was exciting to get started on these projects, do the initial analysis, and get a crude proof of concept working. After submitting contracts and project plans, I found myself waiting. Then, waiting more. I'm still waiting. This is an unfortunate reality of contract work. Sometimes, it takes clients an awfully long time to make a decision, get approval, or get funding, and until then, you don't even know if the work you put in will even pay off.
Fun Projects
Being self-employed (especially when you're waiting for clients to respond) gives me ample opportunity to explore other interests and hobbies. For instance, I've been experimenting with writing lyrics and creating songs using generative AI.
I undertook a "serious" music production process, learned to use a digital audio workstation (DAW), and created a full synthwave concept album with a story about an astronaut who travels to Jupiter's moon, Europa. It is available in all the streaming services and music stores! Creating a music album is one of those things that has been on my bucket list for a while, and I'm thrilled that I got it done. I would like to turn the story I came up with for the song lyrics into a full-length novel, and to that end, I have been studying the art of fiction writing, which I find fascinating.
Some of this "diversion" into my hobbies might have been a bit much for my wife, who seriously questioned me for putting efforts in so many directions.
Ultimate Freedom — And All Its Perils
I currently live a life of great freedom and flexibility, though with a less consistent income than I was used to. While that may sound great to those with an inflexible employment situation, it comes with some drawbacks. For one, it's very easy to question whether you're making the best choices. Am I doing what I should with my days? Am I being productive enough, making enough money, and doing things that are ultimately fulfilling to me?
At times, I found myself struggling with a sense of aimlessness and a lack of purpose. I felt a bit lost, not having the structure of a 9–5 job nor the direction of managers and directors above me. When I do have freelance work, I have to balance the needs of multiple clients and have to figure out on my own how to handle administrative duties, from replying to emails to creating contracts and determining the appropriate paperwork to complete.
All the while, I also have to weigh the value of personal projects or activities I want to spend my time on, like my open source and SaaS projects, making music, or even wasting time watching YouTube. This may mean low-urgency client work falls by the wayside, and I may feel guilty about that. So, what do I work on at any given time? It can be tough to determine. Decision paralysis is a real thing — there are too many things I can do, so I ultimately do unproductive things and then feel bad for getting nothing done!
Conclusion
So now you can see what I've been up to — and it has been several loosely related things, a combination of freelance work, passion projects, and fun projects. I'm challenged both by finding work and balancing work I do have with other things I want to do in life while having a relatively unstructured life.
In part 3 of this series, I will discuss doing the work of reflecting on what you want, setting goals, and creating a plan to achieve those things. All very important to have done when you're a free agent, as I am now.
