Doesn't life fly when you're having fun
The beginning of July brings something of a landmark for me. The 1st of July marks my third anniversary of full-time self employment.
So I’ll allow myself a somewhat self indulgent blog post, because you know what, for me this is kind of a big deal. I have never been in any single job for longer than three years. From here on in it’s unchartered territory!
I’m not going to reflect on the highs and lows and trials and tribulations of the last year because, well that’s a bit boring isn’t it. But I do want to drop a few words on two big questions: has it been worth it, and what’s next?
Was it worth going freelance?
I don’t need to spend long dwelling on this one. It’s an absolute, unequivocal, definite YES!
Of course there are downsides to freelancing, but for me the positives have by far outweighed the negatives. The sense of satisfaction I get from doing what I do is genuine and immense. I’m financially independent, I call all the shots, I love what I do and I’m proud of what I do.
But the one most valuable aspect of freelancing has been the ability to teach myself, rapidly, many new technologies and skills. I’ve lived the in-house and agency lives, and whilst those roles certainly weren’t a complete waste of my time, they really cant compare in terms of giving me opportunities to learn new stuff and quickly.
If I want to learn something new, I don’t have to convince anyone of the business benefit of going on a course. I don’t have to wait for that one project to come along (that probably never will) that allows me to use a new technology. I just do it. I schedule my client work accordingly, I sit down and spend a day learning something I want to.
Having this approach to trying new things has allowed me to broaden my grasp of web technologies in three years far faster than I would have in any agency or in-house role.
Getting weird
I shan’t be too gushing of freelance life though as that would be inaccurate. There are downsides. Of course there is the constant financial uncertainty that hangs over life. I may have loads of work on now, but will I in three months time?
And being alone constantly can at times be, well, lonely. Real human interaction is severely limited, but virtual interaction through Twitter, IM and RSS is incessant. It’s a bizarre existence, and I’m sure as a consequence I’m a bit more of a weirdo than I was three years ago.
What next?
I like to think I’m an ambitious person. As such I believe there should always be a ‘next step’. This is something I’ve been giving some thought recently.
Given what I’ve already said in this article, I’m in no rush to give up the freelance life (unless any tech firms in San Francisco fancy sponsoring me to move and paying me a handsome wage). But I do want to be on and work on my own less.
I live in a funny town (Swindon) with a virtually non-existent tech scene. But there are other developers and designers in this town who do what I do. I’m also not a million miles away from Bristol which has a brilliant tech scene.
I want to reach out more to meet other designers and developers, both on a social level and on a professional level. I want to explore collaborative working opportunities, maybe on client projects, maybe just for the heck of it projects.
Ultimately, somewhere down the line, I see freelance life ending. Not to go back working for the Man, but to be the Man. At some point, that has to be the next logical step. A business, a partnership, a cooperative? Who know’s what, but something that doesn’t compromise my ability to do what I love doing and continue learning and developing. Something that allows me to combine with other talented and skilled people, to tackle more ambitious and fun projects.
To the next three years…
8 responses
Liam McKay responded on with…
First of all, totally crazy: July 1st 2008 marked my first day as a freelancer too! It’s been a similar ride too.
I don’t think I’ve learned as much as I could have in other areas, but I’ve certainly moved on far beyond anything I could ever have imagined.
I still have days where I absolutely take for granted the situation I’m in and the freedom I have, and as you say I find myself questioning what’s next, and is there something bigger I should be doing? - But then I remind myself that I want to be in this for the long-haul; there’s no need to rush into anything I’m not ready for. Just learning to enjoy the journey is what I’m working on.
Anyway, congrats on the 3 years Aaron, and best luck with the next 3 and beyond!
Ross responded on with…
Thanks for writing this Aaron. As someone about 2.5 years behind where you are it’s encouraging to read.
But even 6 months in I already find myself agreeing with a lot of what you say.
I mostly left my full-time job because it was so creatively stifling, so void of innovation, so controlled by people who actually didn’t know, or particularly give a damn, about the work I was doing.
I’m not earning huge amounts right now (I don’t need to just yet either), but I LOVE what I’m doing.
Oikos was 1 year old a couple of weeks ago - I keep meaning to write my own reflections on a year of part-time/full-time freelancing. I suspect it will be very similar to this article!
Happy…err…job anniversary? :-)
Aaron Russell responded on with…
@Liam thanks mate, and as just mentioend on Twitter, it seems like only a few months ago that this all started! Congratulations on your own three years :)
@Ross glad you stopped by, you’re on my hit-list of local devs I need to meet in person. Coffee some time soon?
Mark responded on with…
Great post Aaron, and very encouraging for those of us that are a little while behind you. It’s only been 2 months for me so far but already I can see exactly what you mean. Stress levels have reduced, well, I mean, it’s good to be in control of the whole situation and to not be having to pick up and tidy up after other people’s errors.
But congratulations, and it’s good to hear you still feel good about the change :)
David Airey responded on with…
Congrats on the milestone, Aaron.
It’s just gone six years for me — by far the longest time spent in one job (almost as long as I spent in full-time formal design education, too, only learning a lot more).
I also wonder if I’ll take-on employees at some stage. Who knows? Not now, not yet, but perhaps.
Here’s to much success for you in the coming years.
Aaron Russell responded on with…
@Mark after all the years you had at Inbox, I have no doubt whatsoever that you’ll be writing an article like this in about 2 years and 10 months time. PS - you’re also on my must have coffee with list ;)
@David cheers mate. I seem to recall you saying something similar about possibly/maybe hiring your own staff about 3 years ago! Glad you commented mate, reading your blog all those years ago was a massive inspiration in making me decide to go this route in the first place.
Wizely responded on with…
Happy anniversary! Glad to hear the pluses far outweigh the negatives and you love what you do. I never made it past 2 years in a permanent job (after the honeymoon ‘innovate and fix the major broken bits’ period I always got bored of the bureaucracy) so well done on lasting 3. I hear you on the isolation front… then again there’s only about 100 people in a 50-mile radius of me, and most are strangely close to their cousins! But think of it this way - the downside is you live in Swindon and you’re cut-off from human interaction, on the plus side you live in Swindon and you’re cut-off from human interaction. :)
Stoo responded on with…
I’m a bit late to the party, but happy anniversary :)
It’s something I would love to do myself, but I obviously enjoy the relative security of being employed in a development company. As well as lacking the confidence in my abilities in the freelance world.
Having the freedom to learn new things and try them out etc is hugely beneficial in this game. In my current role self development isn’t high on the list of things to do, so I’m probably learning newer things at a slower rate.
The best of luck for the next 3 years and beyond Aaron :)
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