Yesterday I decided to make the most of the freelance life. I handed in one of the books I'm working on last week and I had just sent out an estimate for a project that, if accepted, will have me up to my ears in work for the whole of the month. Before I start touching up and finishing the translation of the book I have due in June, I thought I'd chillax a bit and take advantage of the freelance life to check out an exhibition and catch up with some friends.
The best thing that can happen to a freelancer is to have other friends who freelance too and can join them in their escapades. One of my best friends works as a freelance stylist so on the rare occasion that we both have some free time, we team up and go for it. A couple of years ago we spent a whole long weekend lounging at my parents' beach flat, last year we were both too busy for words and this year seems to have started in the same style, so we made the most of the day instead.
We spoke at 9.30 am and decided on the Fundación Mapfre's Lewis Hine show. Highly recommendable.
As soon as I put the landline phone down, my mobile started ringing. A client. What to do? I decided to pick up, because it was one of my best and favourite clients and a phone call meant something was up... I mean, email is what normal work is for, right?
She was in a right pickle. She was heading off to the printer's when she realised she had a poster that was still in Spanish. She'd forgotten to send it to me to get it translated. It was just three sentences long, so I told her to send it over to me asap. Once I'd sent it off back to her (and saved the show), I switched off the computer, only to have her call me 10 minutes later to say she needed another quickie.
I finally managed to make it out at midday. The show was great, and the museum was a lot busier than I'd expected. Don't know if that had to do with the time of day or with the fact that it was a free show, but it was definitely pulling in the crowds.
We ended up having lunch with my family. My brother usually has lunch with me on Wednesdays and my parents happened to be in the Prado, so we all got together and giggled the meal away.
After lunch we made our way off towards our favourite café to indulge in a slice of carrot cake before we parted ways.
I got home to a sleepy doggie, who did not seem to have missed me a bit, and sat down to sort out my invoices.
All in all it was a great freelance day.
Afterthought: as I was writing this post, another one came to mind. "Smartphones, are they wreaking havoc on my 'freelance life' escapades?". Stay tuned for my conclusions on that!!
The best thing that can happen to a freelancer is to have other friends who freelance too and can join them in their escapades. One of my best friends works as a freelance stylist so on the rare occasion that we both have some free time, we team up and go for it. A couple of years ago we spent a whole long weekend lounging at my parents' beach flat, last year we were both too busy for words and this year seems to have started in the same style, so we made the most of the day instead.
We spoke at 9.30 am and decided on the Fundación Mapfre's Lewis Hine show. Highly recommendable.
As soon as I put the landline phone down, my mobile started ringing. A client. What to do? I decided to pick up, because it was one of my best and favourite clients and a phone call meant something was up... I mean, email is what normal work is for, right?
She was in a right pickle. She was heading off to the printer's when she realised she had a poster that was still in Spanish. She'd forgotten to send it to me to get it translated. It was just three sentences long, so I told her to send it over to me asap. Once I'd sent it off back to her (and saved the show), I switched off the computer, only to have her call me 10 minutes later to say she needed another quickie.
I finally managed to make it out at midday. The show was great, and the museum was a lot busier than I'd expected. Don't know if that had to do with the time of day or with the fact that it was a free show, but it was definitely pulling in the crowds.
We ended up having lunch with my family. My brother usually has lunch with me on Wednesdays and my parents happened to be in the Prado, so we all got together and giggled the meal away.
After lunch we made our way off towards our favourite café to indulge in a slice of carrot cake before we parted ways.
I got home to a sleepy doggie, who did not seem to have missed me a bit, and sat down to sort out my invoices.
All in all it was a great freelance day.
Afterthought: as I was writing this post, another one came to mind. "Smartphones, are they wreaking havoc on my 'freelance life' escapades?". Stay tuned for my conclusions on that!!
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