It’s OK (and sometimes great) to have a really boring freelance gig
When I decided to re-enter the workforce after taking care of my young kids for a few years (OK, more than a few years) I turned to freelancing. I saw it as a way to keep my time flexible and keep me out of an office. Freelancing can be great but it comes with a variety of well-known challenges. One of my biggest challenges was accepting that my most important freelance gig was also my most boring one. And that was, in fact, OK and not a sign that I was settling or giving up on my life goals.
If you ask me what I do for work at a party or the bus stop I will likely tell you I write about Star Wars. And this is true. I write for the official Star Wars website as a contributing writer. And they pay me for that. It’s a cool gig for an award-winning website that has a bunch of fun people working there. But I don’t actually work there (San Francisco) and I only write for them about once a month.
The money I make from the Mouse doesn’t pay my bills or fees for my kid’s summer camps. Not even close. I mention Star Wars first because it’s fun to talk about. Star Wars is something I feel passionate about. And my ego has insisted for years that all of my jobs must be interesting, challenging, life-affirming, etc.
Even though I rarely talk about it I do have a much more consistent and stable freelancing contract with another company. I don’t talk about it a lot because it’s, well, very boring. And I don’t think of myself as someone who would ever have a boring job. I’m the person who has had a long list of unique and interesting jobs (campaign admin director, film preservationist, game tester, etc). The “boring” one I have now (a kind of marketing writing) is about as exciting as staring at a brick wall all day.
But after several years of working this not-exciting freelance gig I’m here to share something it took me ages to appreciate — this boring job is one of the best things that has happened to me career-wise of late. Sometimes a bit of boring is what you need to live the life you want.
There are a variety of things I have grown to love about this contract job:
- It’s easy.
So, so easy. At first, I hated this part of the job and thought it was a waste of my skills/time. But since I’m challenging myself so much with my other freelance work, and life as the mother of two has its own complications, I now embrace how dang simple this one contract is. Being able to do something consistently well is also helpful to your ego when in other parts of your life rejection is a common and expected part of the journey (writer’s life, gotta love it).
2. It pays well for the amount of time I spend doing it.
Let’s get real. This is the magic part. Especially if you’re working on a passion project that will likely not yield you a lot of money for a long time (or ever).
3. It never stresses me out.
Another true winner. I’m either working on this contract, or I’m not. It doesn’t follow me around all day. It doesn’t cause me any sort of anxiety or keep me up at night. Because the work I do with this contract is so similar every day there are few challenges. This wouldn’t work for me if it was my ONLY source of work, but it’s nice to have one part of my workday not take up very much of my mental energy. It’s also allowed me to catch up on a few podcasts and audiobooks as a bonus win.
4. It’s dependable.
My humdrum contract is with a solid and successful company that has been around for years and is unlikely to go under any time soon. It’s not a company where I will seek much advancement or an industry I am that interested in — but who cares? The stability I have with them will help me take chances in other areas of my work.
5. They pay on time and are good communicators.
Anyone who has spent time freelancing will get why I’m including this one. No one needs to spend their time tracking down their paycheck — which probably isn’t even large enough for the work you just did for a company. But it happens all the time. This company pays on time and if there are ever any questions about my check they have always been quick to get me an answer or make an adjustment. This is something I truly did not value until I did not have it other places.
6. It’s ridiculously flexible.
With this contract I can take time off, switch work on weekdays for weekends, and work any time of the day or night. In short, this job gets out of my way when I need it to. So going on trips, spending large chunks of time on another contract, spending a week volunteering at the school Book Fair are all fairly easy for me to manage with this job. The only thing the company cares about is if I get the job done and get it done well.
It’s hard to say how long working this contract will continue to work for me. But before you dump a freelance contract that isn’t a good conversation piece at the bus stop or at dinner parties make sure you’re not overlooking the benefits of an old reliable contract to get you through the ups and downs of your personal and professional life. Old reliables aren’t fancy or glamorous, but they’re also not easy to find and hold on to.
