You may have noticed that it was quite calm on my blog over the past months. Last week was the first article I published for a long time. The long break from blogging had its reasons, but things will change in the future. I finally quit a low-paying freelance job in order to give myself more time to focus on the things I love.
Why I had no time for blogging
I was visiting my family and friends for a couple of months. So I spent my leisure time with them instead of working for my blog. I also had a very time-consuming job that stressed me a lot. That’s why I had to make my blog a leisure activity in the first place.
When I became self-employed last year, I actually promised myself to make a difference to my previous jobs. I didn’t want to sell myself under value anymore. Well, what should I say? I did it again and almost did it for a whole year.
A good opportunity at first turned out different
In the beginning, I was happy about the job. It was a good opportunity to start freelancing and to make money online while working from anywhere in the world. It assured me continuous work, which gave me the security I needed for the start.
Truth is: In some months, I barely made enough money to enjoy the places I was living. I often worked 7 days a week and often 10 hours a day (spread out over the day). However, sometimes I still couldn’t cover my bills and costs, which were only $600. Fortunately, I had my partner that helped me out a lot. Without him, I would have been back in Germany to work in a normal 9 to 5 job a few months ago.
I had to find the loophole
For me, freelancing only was a way to get a foot into the remote work and location-independence. I never planned on doing this all the time and so I treated it as such. I didn’t work on a portfolio or building up a freelance business, but I got stuck in it without improvements in my financial situation.
I knew that I was in this vicious circle again: Too many hours of work for the low income I earned. There was almost no time left to work on other projects that would have brought me more money by now. I knew I had to break free. Even my closest people told me that I seem to be tense and unsatisfied. They were right. I was stuck. I was too terrified to quit the job because it was my main income source and I had no savings whatsoever.
However, I realized that there is no other option than getting a better job in order to be happy again and to enjoy life again.
So I did it. A few weeks ago, I quit this time consuming and low-paying freelance job.
The moment I sent that email, I felt relieved and afraid at the same time, but mostly relieved.
The right choice
Within the past weeks, I spent more time on different projects and my blog again. It has been so enjoyable for me that I realized this was the right choice. I already have better paid freelance jobs that I enjoy more and I want to put more focus on Unbridled again. This blog unleashes creativity and passion that I don’t see in any other job so far.
No more low-paying freelance jobs
When I made my decision to quit the job, I was looking on the popular freelance platforms for jobs again. However, I gave up the search because I saw so many low-paying freelance jobs that made me cry and laugh at the same time! 500 words translation: Budget $5. WTF?! Are you serious?! I need around an hour to translate and edit it. Means $5 an hour… And they want to see “perfection” and “high quality” – Sorry but not for this money. Those people should rather save their 5 bucks and use Google Translate! These offers are not rare. Apparently, this is the common trend in translation jobs on Upwork.
That’s why I kind of gave up completely on the freelancing path. I only check some Facebook groups sporadically in case I find something interesting.
But what now?
I am putting all my creativity and passion for Unbridled World and other projects I like. We will see how it works. Sometimes you just have to dare the jump! 😉
