Issue #71: A Current Peak into the Life of a Freelancer

It's me versus the machines.

It seems like there is a new article daily warning us about the dangers of AI, or celebrating a new AI achievement, or the weird niche stories about men who only date robots. I’ve used ChatGPT to write hilarious limericks, and I even went down the well of turning my dog into a human at one point, but the truth is, it feels like the dragon in my fairytale of being a writer and freelancer.

For the last six years, I’ve been working for myself. I’ve been able to have the freedom to travel around the world, tag along on my husband’s work trips, and enjoy a beer on Friday afternoon with some of my favorite ladies. But I’m also incredibly lucky to have a partner who has a fantastic job with benefits, and I have had enough work rolling in to keep me fairly busy… until this year.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

I wrote this complete breakdown of what I do for work just over a year ago:

It makes me sad when I read it now because I’m only still working on half of these. Companies are cutting costs, projects have wrapped up, and AI is taking over in areas where a desire for quantity outweighs a focus on quality. It’s pushing me into my own identity crisis of sorts. You could say I’m at a crossroads. Where do I go from here?

Now, the clients I’m working with are so meaningful to me, and I’m doing better work than I’ve ever done. But I’m also applying to dozens of jobs each month and having zero luck. I got pretty far along with a few job prospects, but the more I learned about the job and the company, the less interested I was.

It’s a constant battle. Do I want to invest more time into refining my resume, networking, and selling my soul to get someone to talk to me? Or should I be spending that time reaching out to prospective clients and getting more freelance business?

I can’t completely blame AI, but it was time for a little vent. Now that you have that background, and my current state of mind around work, I'm going to share with you a little peek into what a typical day looks like for me now. I love reading these when other people do them, so I’m playing along.

Day in my Life on a Boring Thursday

5:50 AM - It’s light outside, and the dog jumps onto the bed to let us know that the day is upon us. My husband takes him for a walk while I start coffee, blend up a smoothie, and prep the dog’s breakfast. This is the time that I avoid touching my phone so my eyes and brain can wake up.

6:30 AM - We turn on 5 Things on Max and get a brief news update for the day. I’ve found that this is much better than scrolling Instagram for headlines.

7:00 AM - Free write in my journal. Some days this practice lasts 30 minutes, and other days, I write down a few sentences and move on. I grab a book and read a few pages before opening the computer.

7:30 AM - Check emails and Slack, reach out to a client, follow up on a few invoices, and check views and clicks from a few things I’m testing on a website. I’m working from bed because I was up until 11 last night, and it’s hard to get moving with the overcast skies and breeze coming in the window.

8:45 AM - Brush teeth, change into outside clothes, and get ready for the day.

9:00 AM - Leave the house to drop off packages and mail. I got a call from my dad, so I chatted with him while taking a walk to the botanical garden in the neighborhood. This multitasking allowed me to get in a two-mile walk while catching up on the last few weeks, because we’ve been missing each other since my birthday.

10:00 AM - Sit down at a coffee shop and write for a while. It’s nice to get out of the house, and I need to change up the scenery sometimes. Plus, we only had enough creamer for one of us to have a second cup of coffee, and Justin has meetings all morning and is working from home, so I jumped at the chance to have OPC (our nickname for other people’s coffee - shout out to Steph for that term.)

11:00 PM - Wandered across the street to have an iced tea and a sandwich while continuing to work on a current podcast recap and show notes for a fascinating client. It was so lovely to sit in the fresh air. I also caught up on some group texts with friends from home.

12:30 PM - Walked home to take the pup out. Took a screen break and read James (our book club book) for 20 minutes.

1:00 PM - Logged back in to check emails, scroll the job boards, and scroll on Instagram for a bit. Also, read a section of a book that I’m reviewing.

2:30 PM - Made myself a snack and threw in a load of laundry. I tried to get myself motivated to clean, but I settled for some real estate browsing instead. We are not currently looking for a house, but we enjoy browsing listings to inspire us to save more for the day when we can buy one.

3:00 PM - Updated an old post on the website about planning a weekend trip to Boston. Read it here if you’re interested.

3:45 PM - Took the dog out for his afternoon walk. He acted like a maniac because he was way too excited about dinner. We made it halfway down the block before he was over it. Fed him when I got back in and spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what Peloton workout I was going to do.

4:30 PM - Got motivated and did a 20-minute upper body and a 10-minute core on Peloton.

5:00 PM - Ate some tuna pasta salad that I made a giant batch of earlier this week.

5:30 PM - Updated my writing portfolio on my website and checked to make sure all the links were working. I’m feeling inspired after my previous vent.

6:15 PM - My husband is gone at happy hour, so I watched the Summer House reunion on Bravo.

7:15 PM - Justin is home. We chatted about the day and then settled into our comfortable clothes and watched the most recent episode of the Ewan McGregor show on Apple TV, where he rides a motorcycle around Europe. It’s a fun kind of travel show, and the guy is likeable. No one else could get us excited about a motorcycle show.

8:30 PM - Walked the dog around and turned on John Oliver’s most recent episode while finishing filling in the rest of the time slots on this newsletter to schedule it.

9:30 PM - I’ll do the same thing I do most nights. I’ll brush my teeth, clean my face, put on lotion, and crawl into bed with my Kindle until my eyelids get heavy - usually within 30 minutes. There will likely be some loud sighs when I realize I didn’t put away the laundry and decide that it’s a problem for Tomorrow Steph.

This was an extremely ordinary day. I got out of the house for a bit, wrote for a while, didn’t finish everything on my to-do list, should’ve spent more time on chores, and looked at my dog at least three times and wished I were him.

I appreciate all of you taking the time to read this and allowing me a moment to be vulnerable. After thinking about it all day, I think I’m going to block some time to do both resume refining and pitching to new prospects. A little pep talk from my lovely friend Caroline reminded me that the right thing will come along. In the meantime, I’ll just spend as much time outside as possible this summer.

• If you don’t believe me on the Japanese robot thing, check out this tourist attraction.

• I gave up on this dress after seeing two people wear it, but I did get another Nuuly rental because they credited me after I sent something with a stain last month. I’m most excited about these pants - stay tuned. Use this link to get a deal if you want to try it.

• Some meaningful advice for anyone job hunting, but especially recent college grads.

• Do you feel like you missed out on the feud between DJT and Elon this week? The memes alone are worth a deep dive on the internet. NPR put together this helpful timeline if you’ve tuned them out or blocked them in the last year.

• I’m obsessed with this colorful house (and his cookbook, too).

• Keep these 36 conversation starters in your phone for any moment, because the weather will only get you so far.

If you’re out there searching for your next job or struggling at a crossroads, you are not alone. Sending you all the good vibes I have left over, and hopefully, someday in the near future, there will be more.

Cheers! And TGIF.

Steph

**Reminder: Some of the links included are affiliate links. Purchasing through them may give me a few pennies, but it won’t cost you any extra. The pennies help me justify the amount of time I spend watching bad TV to share with all of you. Another way to help is to share this, hit the like button, or even drop a comment with something you have loved this month. And if you’re really inspired, you can pledge your support.