19 April 2007

Knackered but chirpy

I've had the nightmare week from hell but the end is in sight. I worked over the weekend and have put in 16-hour days since then. My phone rang practically off the hook, my inbox overflowed and I was ready to rip someone's head off their shoulders. I don't believe I have ever been this busy since I turned freelance. I'm not complaining - it's good to be in demand. I turned away a client on Monday because I was simply too busy. I've never done that before. I've turned clients down because of money issues or a gut feeling that the job would turn out to be more hassle than it was worth, but I've always somehow squeezed in the time for another job. Not anymore. I still want the business so I'm about to fire off an apologetic email and suggest we work together in the future.

I lost a working day on Tuesday as my brain decided to misbehave on Monday evening. I had another seizure, just a little one, and my beloved P was there to take care of me. That was the first seizure for months, but I wasn't surprised - I've been working too hard and getting stressed. On Tuesday, I felt crap - post-ictal headache and sore muscles. I did very little work and slept in the afternoon. Yesterday I was raring to go and started work at 7.15am. I had a lot to catch up on.

The postie brought good news this morning - I have become an Advanced Member of the SfEP.

And the paper that commissioned me loved my budget piece and wants another feature from me.

May's diary is already looking full, which is good, but I really do need to sit down and think about how I'm working. I need to be more organised and I need to stop taking on silly little jobs that are interesting but not big earners. Time to reassess is needed.

And on that note, I'm downing tools for the rest of the week.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Turning down business is a nice "problem" to have.

I'm curious if you've ever seen the discussion about short copy being better over at www.jamesbrausch.com ?

Apparently in a statistical study he discovered that short copy is more profitable and even created a tool for copywriters that helps you write profitable copy.

Short letters means less time, therefore you don't have to turn away customers...and you make more money. No?

Unknown said...

Erm, firstly I didn't say it was a copywriting client! Secondly, I don't write ads or sales copy, so interesting as those tools are, they don't really apply to me. Most of my income comes from editing and journalism. Copywriting is something I do less and less of. And btw it's not ALL about the money yanno! Occasionally, I've turned down potentially lucrative jobs because I didn't fancy them or had a bad vibe about the client. My main priority is to have a life outside work, which I don't feel I do right now, because much as I love working, it ain't the be all and end all.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear about the seizure, you'd had a good clear period too. Glad it was just a small one and P was there.

I'm having an equally buried-under-work time - I'm in essay marking mode and utterly brain fried!

Hope to see you soon. Hugs to you and P.