Career Makeover Wednesdays: Daycare Duty to Writer Extraordinaire

After handling a family emergency, Gina talks about how life forced her to put work on hold. Here she shares an unexpected learning experience - but a valuable one - as she continues to build her new business as a professional writer.

By Guest Blogger Gina Blitstein

I have been busy, busy, busy writing for my first significant client who found me via the Internet. This is a HUGE project comprised of six 5000-word articles and four 2500-word articles. It really has been a challenge to have one all-encompassing project while continuing to keep up with my other writing assignments that are due on a weekly basis. I am learning a lot about my working style - that when confronted with a large project, I prefer to attend to the smaller responsibilities first so that I can delve into the big project without the gnawing distractions of the other jobs on my mind. This strategy worked remarkably well for me until there was a family emergency...

When I was a daycare provider, I always dreaded the thought of needing to take time off for such things as a personal emergency. Of course my clients would have understood me taking time off but I could never justify charging my them if I wasn't able to watch their children. As a result, when I didn't work, I didn't get paid. As a freelance writer, I assumed that I would have more control over my time. The same "no work, no pay" would apply, of course, but I thought I would have more flexibility in my schedule so that if I should need time off, it wouldn't prove such an all-or-nothing scenario. I assumed that even though I would not be home, that I could still keep up with my work. After all, have computer, can write, right?

Not true, I discovered. When I heard of the family emergency, I needed to make plans to go out of state for an undetermined amount of time. Of course I thought I could take my work with me and keep up with the writing there. It was empowering to think that I could work from a remote location and not feel tied to my home when I was needed elsewhere. What I hadn't taken into account was that while by body and computer were there, my head and heart were with my family. It soon became evident that little if any work was going to get done until I combined those two organs again.

So I have discovered that just because I can physically get away from home if I need to does not guarantee that I can work. Even though I can take time off without jeopardizing my career, the emotional factor trumps my location. Thankfully all my clients were so very accommodating when I asked for their patience as I dealt with the situation. I was so worried that some would deem me unprofessional but I received unanimous understanding and an attitude of "family first" from each and every one. I am extremely blessed to work with such caring people!

Now that I am back to "normal" working conditions here at home, I am finishing up those projects that were put on hold for several weeks. I especially want to get those huge articles completed and submitted as soon as possible. I want to keep that relationship solid because, first, they have been pleased with my previous work and secondly, they put a lot of trust in me when they hired me for this larger project. They are my ideal client and I would love to work with them again and have them refer me to others.

On top of this and my other existing clients, I have a very full to-do list of things to focus on when I have time. Those things include honing my pitch so I can clearly and concisely describe what I do for a living now. There are also aspects of networking I would like to explore but for now it is all about catching up. I would like to discuss with Ellen how to work on getting business when you are already busy doing your business...That is an aspect of time management I can't get a handle on.