My ass hurts from sitting. I'm shocked that I don't have carpal tunnel like my sister, and that my glasses prescription hasn't changed in a few years, because there are times when the screen flickers and everything goes Gaussian blurry. When I'm profiling grocery store shelves, scrolling the product rows for baker's yeast, my left-hand pinky and index finger swipe the air instinctively. Ctrl+f. Find: Fleischmann's. I self-narrate events in blog post voice. In April, I stowed my computer in a closet for 48 hours to drive around Picos de Europa, and when I got back it was dead. I wasn't surprised.
Freelancing is cool. I can type an hour, read The Golden Spruce the next, then get back to work. I can play geography quizzes and read the NYTimes site during the middle of the day without intoning the phrase "time theft." I can spend a year traveling through five South American countries and still pull in a solid 30k.
What I can't do is stop. I don't work all day, but I do work every day, especially since joining the Matador team. The multi-project fluidity of my freelance lifestyle means there's always something to do. There is no downtime, only different manifestations of work. Research becomes writing becomes uploading becomes editing becomes publishing becomes promoting. And on.
But the part that freaks me out is the new habit I seem to have of turning even potential downtime into work time. When assignments from Korea have ebbed, and my Matador duties are crossed off (for the day), there's still more--planning a next book with Park Kyubyong, zeroing out my Google Reader, blogging here. Each minute, monetize. Not that I do all these things simply to make money, but the mindset is similar. Produce. Progress. Maximize.
On her blog Cuaderno Inedito, Julie Schwietert asks, "What if the Internet crashed today?" She uses the question to imagine pursuing projects in the "real" world, more closely, humanly connected with colleagues and communities than the Internet can ever allow. The prospect excites her. Right now, I'm taking the question in a different direction, but one equally exciting to me. If the Internet crashed today, I would...
I would go outside. Take mate to the park. Ride my bike to McKinney Falls. Fix my bike. Paint the living room "Balmy Seas." Go to a movie. Play frisbee golf at Bartholomew. Volunteer. Take a Spanish class. Work in the yard. Read an entire book. Locate the best draft beer bar in Austin.
Those things sound fun. So I've decided that every Sunday, my Internet will crash. I will shut off my computer Saturday night and won't touch it till Monday morning. It will not die--it will be fine without me. And vice versa.
This will be my 1-day freelancer's weekend. I will look forward to it all week, and then I will spend it frivolously.
12 comments:
Hal! I loved this post, a) because it was hilarious, and b) because I can absolutely relate.
One of the best things (out of a number of wonderful things) about my gig at World Hum this last year has been my rediscovery of weekends. I went straight from student life - where, much like freelancing, you work every day but not all day - to working a day job and writing in my spare time, to writing full time, and I haven't really carved out weekly downtime since, well, high school. Doing so in Whitehorse the last few months has been kind of mind-blowing.
I also love the idea of internet-free work time. I know Frank Bures has been aiming to carve out internet-free Mondays, where he works - writing, reading, organizing notes, etc. - but does NOT tweet or blog or email. I'd like to give that a try.
Thanks Eva. I love how we're always on the same wavelength with this kind of thing. :) And an Internet-free day is definitely intriguing. Might just have to make that day 2 of my "weekend."
Glad you're enjoying Whitehorse!
You go Hal! I hope it works out for you. I'm trying to take a proper day off a week, and a day of no Internet. So far, I'm failing miserably...
Hal... *shhh*... Eventually Matador is going to figure out that we're actually the same person orchestrating an elaborate hoax-as-art for our MFA.
frivolity! i can't wait for this experiment to start.
i feel obligated to point out that this sunday (the first sunday after you mentioned your plan) you said "can't do it this sunday--too much work to do."
:)
@Care: Not true! It was because all of Sat. was spent World Cupping and birthdaying.
I WILL reclaim Sundays, you'll see.
Ha! What a great post. Well-written and a pleasure to read.
Good luck. The guilt of an "off" day usually gets to me by noon.
I'm all over the one day weekend experiment. Starting next Sunday... ;)
So crazy. This is exactly what was on my mind today & then I saw the post on Julie's twitter. I've been really happy about getting 2 regular blogging jobs in the past month to add to my freelance gigs. And yet, I find that some weeks I'm working more hours/days than I did when I worked in an office. Or that separating "work" from life is nearly impossible. I definately wouldn't want to go back to 9-5 world, but I'm searching for some balance...
Loved the post!
@Gabriela: I definitely work more at home than I ever did in an office. The payoff is that I "accomplish" so much more, too.
Thanks for the comment.
"Ctrl+f. Find: Fleischmann's."
Hilarious! And all too relatable. Enjoy your Sundays!
Hahaha yeah, the Ctrl+F thing was hilarious. I know what you mean though, I find myself sharing stories to my real friends about things that happen online. Enjoy that one day off!
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