A decision

I came to a decision last week. I'm going to leave my job in the next couple of months in order to work freelance. There are two main reasons. First, I've been in my job for nine years and I'm getting quite stale. I'm a bit fed up with waiting on other people and fitting in to the office culture. Second, we plan to leave London next year to live in the Welsh Marches and when we're there I'll almost certainly work freelance. It doesn't seem mad to start now and build up my contacts.

I do know something of working freelance because I did it for twelve years while the boys were small. I got fed up with it after a while and really enjoyed going to work in an office when I got my present job. So, there are good and bad aspects of both ways of life.

This time round I'm hoping to work more as a project manager rather than as a copy-editor solely. I'll continue with academic books, because that's where my experience lies, but I also want to branch out into creative and craft books.

Pros of the new life: leaving behind commuting, boring meetings, irrelevant emails and inane chitchat; more autonomy; more interesting books (potentially)

The cons: having to work more hours to make the same money; no free training; loneliness; filling out tax forms.

Comments

[Inge Kea]

That is a big decision, indeed. I wish you well! I'll have to look up the Welsh Marches to see where that is. Hope you will still have time to blog!

Inge