saving ink

I’m starting the whole New Year’s revolution cycle early this year, partly due to circumstances, partly because I don’t have any rational excuses not to. Next year is going to be quite different from any other year of my life, so I might as well get a head start, as it will definitely be a challenge.

In short, as of December 1st, I’m no longer an employee of anyone, and my goal is to keep it that way indefinitely. I left my job (well, the newspaper ran out of money… details, details) and I’m going freelance, as the kids say. The plan is to start with mostly translation and proofreading jobs, because there seem to be enough of those readily available to pay the rent, and I’m decent at both (yay not-quite-useless English degree!). Once I know I won’t end up under a bridge, however, I want to ambitiously start pursuing freelance writing gigs at whatever (reputable) publication will have me, and then eventually start my own app pub down the line, once I have money and a team and a better idea of everything that entails.

Five days of freelancing so far have taught me a few things: 1. I absolutely love my new nocturnal lifestyle, and 2. I need some sort of self-imposed schedule or I end up playing Civilization instead of working. Point one means that the first night I was able to, I worked from about 8 pm until 7 in the morning, and felt absolutely great about it. Then, I slept until about two in the afternoon and did it all over again until the weekend actually moved my bedtime up a few hours. The best part is that Polish winters make this schedule not only sustainable, but extremely desirable. The only downside is that I won’t see daylight for a few months, but it’s pretty overrated in the winter, anyway.

As for point two, I just sat down and made the following schedule, which I am posting up here in the hopes that it will keep me honest:

Monday:
noon: get up, breakfast, etc.
14-15: clean flat
15-16: physics 101¹
16-18: practice piano
18-19: dinner/relax
19-22: band practice
22-04: work²

Tuesday: 
noon: get up, breakfast, etc.
14-15: work
15-18: learn web design
18-19: dinner/relax
19:30-21:15: kung fu
23-04: work²

Wednesday:
noon: get up, breakfast, etc.
14-15: work
15-16: Psych 101¹
16-17: learn German
17-18: practice piano
18-19: dinner/relax
19-22: band practice
22-04: work (Krakow Nightowls meet-up)

Thursday: 
noon: get up, breakfast, etc.
14-15: work
15-18: learn web design
18-19: dinner/relax
19:30-21:15: kung fu
23-04: work²

Friday:
noon: get up, breakfast, etc.
14-16: work
16-17: reading
17-18: dinner/relax
18:45-20: kung fu
20+ DRINK!

Saturday:
FREE DAY
(band practice)

Sunday:
morning/afternoon: free time
15-17: practice piano/compose shit
17-19: work
19-20: dinner/relax
20-22: work
22-23: work out, run
23+: work, as necessary

The only thing I’m unsure of is whether or not to add dedicated writing time in there, but perhaps I’ll incorporate that into the “work” blocks, depending on how much translation work I end up with. So far, things have been looking up, as my first day of unemployment I was awoken to two phone calls for two different translation/proofreading jobs, in addition to two I had already been commissioned for. That means no break for me, but definitely a step in the right direction towards non-starvation.

By the end of next year, I want to be financially- and location-independent. I want to have learned a solid amount of CSS and whatever else I need to make decent websites for myself and perhaps as yet another source of income. I want prospects for good writing gigs, and ideas for books/film scripts/whatever I feel like working on. I want to put out a second album with my band and tour Europe properly. Maybe even start another musical project.

My reasoning? Financial types always advise you to diversify your stock portfolio; why not diversify your skill portfolio? After all, chances are that’s how you’ll be making your money, not on the market. So here’s to 2011!

1: I have over a hundred backlogged lectures I want to view in iTunes U and Khan Academy, so I’ll finally have the chance to catch up on those.

2: If there’s no work, read.