Everyone knows that being out of work can bring up a lot of feelings, fear and depression being the toughest to deal with. Not only don't you know where your rent is coming from, it can be lonely and hard to maintain a positive attitude. As a freelancer, these times can be frequent. What to do?
The first thing that has helped me in these times is to get super clear about my expenses - every dollar I spend, and develop an awareness of the difference between *needs* and things that are nice to have but can be on hold in dry spells.
If you're committed to self-employment, it's recommended to have anywhere from 6 months to a year's worth of expenses in a prudent reserve. You may want to put it in an account that is difficult to access so you won't be tempted to splurge on a fancy handbag during rich times, only to find you don't have enough during your next break between gigs. Either way, this account should include all the expenses you'll need to live on regardless of whether you have money coming in that month - not just rent, food and bills, but gifts, vacation money, taxes, clothing and charitable donations. If you feel too restricted for too long, you're bound to swing in the other direction and overspend to compensate for that feeling.
Once you've taken care of that, the best thing you can do during lean times is have your own projects. If you're a photographer, schedule free shoots with friends of friends. Challenge yourself to enter a group show. Shoot subjects you've never explored before. I have a tv writer friend who writes childrens' books in between tv staffing gigs - and she gets paid good money to do it! If you're an actor, write yourself a part. You may end up filming it, or it may just help you understand writing structure and introduce you to new collaborators. You can host a reading for free in your living room. If you're a wardrobe designer between gigs, create costumes from your imagination and post them on a free website.
Lastly, open yourself up to the possibility of doing work you hadn't considered. Share with people who like you that you have free time and would like to earn. It's amazing what people will come up with! Some of the things people suggested to me sounded awful, others I hadn't even thought of and were really fun. The more I explored, the clearer I got about what I *did* want to spend my time doing and how to actually get there!
If you have other suggestions for the woefully unemployed, please comment!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment