I was editing about 3 million photos today (68) and my brain started to wander and it occurred to me all the different things that a self employed craftsperson needs to be... the skill sets we all have far out weigh most normal jobs...
We have to be artists and craftsmen (craftspersons?) obviously but so many people just think it ends there. I am my own webdesigner, promoter, advertiser, accountant, social media expert (I'm good at that one), photographer, designer, photo editor... the list goes on and on.
It does feel like most of my friends and family have no idea what I do all day... the amount of artists I have spoken to who say they envy that I do this full time is enormous but I wonder if they realise how little of my time I actually spend making things in relation to doing the rest of it... because without the rest of it I wouldn't have a business.
I knew how hard it would be when I started my full time self employment and took for granted that everyone else would too... this isn't the case... so many people think I sit around watching daytime TV and drinking coffee! I'm not the greatest business woman in the world and am too easily distracted... but my days start around 8am and end around 10pm... sometimes later... and it's generally 7 days a week too so in the average day I tend to do more than a 9-5 job would entail.
There are considerable perks as well tho... my commute to work is about 7 steps to the studio door, when the sun shines I can pop down to the beach for a couple of hours and I'm my own boss... which means I set my terms. I'm a lot less stressed too... this is the best decision I have ever made and if you catch me saying otherwise give me a slap and send me back here!
Being able to take a break whenever you feel you need it is a great perk, and you are working for yourself, so that also means that you can be worse than any previous boss!
ReplyDeleteI dunno why people think that working for yourself means doing nothing... maybe cause that's what they'd do?