Julia Cunningham continues to make her mark as a freelance art buyer and in doing so realizing that it isn’t just the clients’s time that she has to manage. It is her own time that needs managing as well. Anyone who is freelance out there will tell you that is sometimes one of the hardest things to get used to when you are on your own. Here is what Julia has to say about her experiences.“Now that I am working for myself, I have discovered yet another schedule that needs to be updated regularly… mine! The assurance of picking up the phone to ask a co-worker for assistance is no longer an option.
The upside? I actually feel I’ve become more adept at multitasking than when I was working as a full-time employee. However, I am still trying to figure out the matrix — How many projects I can take on at once? Can I commit to additional work when a current job is “tentatively” on hold? Can I still work, effectively, while on vacation? I assume the answers will come more easily with time, but I admit it can be a struggle right now.
With my first holiday as a contract employee behind me, I found the most important part of keeping my schedule organized was persistence, perhaps bordering on annoying. It wasn’t long ago I would lose patience with multiple calls from a photographer’s rep to inform me another client was prepared to book. Now I’m an empathetic freelance Art Buyer on the rep’s side. There is definitely a strategy in making sure clients maintain project schedules while getting others to commit to actual start dates.
I wish I were able to provide a perfect summation, especially because I know I’m hardly alone in this freelancer’s dilemma. Don’t get me wrong, I’m quite content being self-employed; I just hope I’ll eventually discover the perfect balance.”