Life’s a beach

I’ll start by saying I love the seaside. I love the oceans. I love spending as much time as possible at the beach. This probably explains lot about my life choices in recent years - namely my decision to train as a stand up paddleboard (SUP) instructor, and my decision to make Dorset my home again after the best part of ten years away from the south-west of England.

So, I’m a freelance copywriter and a SUP instructor. Obviously the latter isn’t so great in the winter, but in the summer it’s the most wonderful job. That means I currently have two very different professions. One that involves sitting at a computer moving little more than my fingers, and the other that sees me away from everything electronic and connected, using every part of my body.

One of the driving forces behind my decision to go freelance as a writer was to have more flexibility and freedom. I wanted to bring more balance to my life and to combat the detrimental effects of a desk job on my physical health.

That’s where the SUP comes in. It’s a sport I fell in love with very quickly and a great way for me to get out and spend more time in, on and near the ocean, which is most definitely my happy place.

Why I love the balance

Being a SUP instructor and being a freelance copywriter are completely different jobs. That’s one of the things I love. Teaching SUP gives me a chance to get out of my flat, spend more time outdoors and interact with people on a daily basis. When I’m working over the summer I’m predominantly based at one centre and I’m not ashamed to admit that I feel very smug when ‘going to work’ basically means spending a day at the beach.

It’s good for me to take time away from my computer and to be in the fresh air. Not to mention the fact that being on a SUP is a good physical workout that helps keep me in shape.

That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the writing though. I love this too, but for very different reasons. It allows me to exercise my mind and gives me different problems to tackle. I feel as though I always have the opportunity to learn with this job, because I work with such a variety of clients across different industries.

And sometimes it’s nice to have a day where you’re not racing around and can just sit and concentrate on one project. As two professions, they’re quite complementary.

Paddling around Portland

Where the challenge comes

Even though I wouldn’t change things at the moment, that’s not to say that there aren’t challenges with having two very different jobs.

In the winter, I don’t teach SUP and focus on my writing work. But come the summertime I’m still trying to keep all my writing clients happy, while also fitting in at least four days a week of teaching SUP. This proved to be a big challenge for me last year.

The hardest thing was finding time for a day off. Because I was out on the water so much, I felt like I needed to use my three days off to keep up with my writing, but that didn’t really leave me with a full day off each week. I know that I didn’t take enough time out last summer, and it’s something I plan to work on for this year.

Aside from everything else, it’s because I got tired. SUP is physically tiring, and because I have to keep an eye on people out on the water all day when I’m at work, I find it can be quite mentally exhausting too. Before the summer started I had grand plans of working days at the watersports centre and doing some writing in the evenings, but more often than not that didn’t happen.

The other challenge with working these two very different jobs was having a social life over the summer months. Fitting in time to see my friends was particularly challenging with the SUP because I work weekends, and the majority of my friends have normal Monday to Friday jobs.

But last summer was a learning curve for me, given that it’s the first one where I’ve been fully freelance for the whole time.

Would I change things?

While there are some things I need to do better, I wouldn’t change my two jobs for anything at the moment. That might be different in a few years’ time, but right now I’m happy with the balance I have between the two.

I strongly believe that you need to be happy in what you do from a work perspective, because retirement doesn’t work in the same way that it used to. Gone are the days of cashing in your pension at 55 and ‘getting round’ to all the things you’d meant to do in your younger years.

I want to have a job (or jobs) and lifestyle that I enjoy now, and that allows me to do the things I love. That’s what I have with the SUP instructing and the writing. Of course things might change in the future, but that’s all part of the fun. Recognising that you’re not going to be in the same job for the next 40 years is really empowering and what the past year has taught me is that you should never be afraid to try something new.

My summer office

What redoing my kitchen reminded me about quoting for freelance jobs

This winter I finally had the chance to revamp my kitchen. It’s a project I’ve been looking forward to doing for over three years, pretty much since I moved into my flat.

I thought I’d planned it pretty well. I had arranged for a kitchen fitter to come in over a weekend to do all the bits my dad and I couldn’t. I’d ordered everything I needed and done multiple trips to various DIY stores to buy tiles, flooring, a new light fitting, paint etc.

And it all started well. We prepped the kitchen for the kitchen fitter - removed the tiles, got rid of the old washing machine, cleared all the clutter from the sides, removed things from cupboards. In fact, the kitchen fitter did his job in just a day, which was amazing.

In my naivety I thought dad and I would be able to do the tiling and flooring in a day too. Then it would just be one more day to finish stuff off and I’d only have a messy kitchen for about a week.

I forget how time consuming DIY can be. Of course the tiling took about a day, and the flooring about the same. Then there was the grouting of the tiles, fitting the trim to the floor, and replacing the light took longer than I’d anticipated (and I still need to gloss paint my skirting boards); not to mention at least two more trips to B&Q to get things I’d forgotten.

There were also extra little jobs I’d not thought about. For example, we took my kitchen door off to lay the floor, but as we’d laid laminate over the existing tiles, that meant it was now higher and that we needed to cut a small bit off the bottom of my door so that it would still hang and close. Luckily my dad had thought about those, but it added time to the process that I’d not accounted for.

The upshot of all that is that what I’d originally thought would take about a week has taken closer to two. I don’t mind. I love my new kitchen and even though there are still a few jobs to do, they’re minor and not as disruptive. So what does this have to do with quoting for freelance jobs?

It just reminded me how easy it is to forget about how long things can take and some of the extra things that can crop up - especially when you’re working with a new client.

I’m terrible for underestimating how long jobs will take me. I learned the hard way that I need to allow more time than I think for a writing project. And that I also need to remember to allow time for amends - and build all of that into my quote, and then hope that whoever I’m quoting for is happy.

And I’m pretty sure that my process isn’t perfect. I try to be as fair as I can be when I’m quoting - I’m not in the business of ripping people off - and I definitely feel like I’ve got a better balance now than I did when I first started out, in terms of more accurately assessing the amount of time a job will take me and therefore quoting a fair price for the work, for me and the client. But that doesn’t mean it’s not difficult sometimes.

Just like with my kitchen, there can be hidden variables or even little jobs you forget about. I’ve learned to be clear about what work my quote covers (and what it doesn’t) so that if a job becomes more complex than I’d anticipated that I’m able to charge more for it.  

It can be hard to strike the right balance and to keep everyone happy. What I have to remind myself is that the process has to keep me happy too. One of the best pieces of advice I received when I started out on my own was to only work for a price I’d be happy with - whatever that may be. The danger of under-quoting is that you resent the work and don’t do such a good job on it because you’re trying to rush the process.

Do any other freelancers have any tips or advice on how to make sure your quotes are fair (almost) every time?

Presence: my word of the year

I’ve never chosen a word of the year before. But this year feels different somehow. I’ve made a lot of life changes in the past couple of years, all in the pursuit of feeling happier and healthier, and one theme that keeps coming up is being present in your life.

It sounds a bit contradictory at first - how can you not be present when you’re the person in question? But I think we can all agree that there are times when physically we might be ‘present’ but mentally we are most definitely not.

So, I’ve decided to focus on being more present in my everyday life. I want to start cultivating a life filled with special moments, however mundane they may seem on the outside.

Why presence?

This feels like a totally natural choice for me. I know I have a tendency to get caught up in a million and one things and I want to make a conscious effort to slow down. Racing through life isn’t the way to go - it’s short enough already.

It’s a theme I’ve become increasingly aware of in the past year as I’ve practiced more yoga. It’s something that my yoga teachers regularly come back to when we’re talking about our practice, and it was on my mat that I first realised how unpresent I was in a lot of my life.

My mind races - I’m sure yours does too - and the first place I found calm and peace was on my yoga mat, when I couldn’t think of anything else or I’d probably faceplant the floor. Since that realisation a good five-plus years ago, I’ve tried to take things in and be more present, not just when I’m somewhere new or on a special occasion, but all the time. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.

By making a conscious effort to bring myself back to the present, instead of thinking about the future or raking over the past, I’ve found I feel happier and more content in my life though. That’s why this year I intend to put more of a focus on it.

Look how beautiful that is. I took this photo on an early morning dog walk last January.

Distractions everywhere

The problem is that there are distractions everywhere, not least of all in the form of my smartphone, which pings and buzzes constantly throughout the day. I can also be a bit of a worrier - something that can be exacerbated by being a freelancer who isn’t always sure where her next pay cheque is coming from.

But that just makes being present and enjoying the moment all the more important. As my dad has always said: ‘There’s no sense in worrying, it might never happen’. And he’s absolutely right. By worrying all I do is work myself up about a possibility. I expend valuable energy and time on this. If it doesn’t happen, I’ve worried over nothing. If it does happen, well then I can do my worrying, without having worried for days/weeks/months (delete as applicable) beforehand.

It makes sense but it’s not easy to turn that voice in your head off. I’m gradually finding ways of doing that though - and what I’ve realised is that this makes me happier and therefore less likely to worry! It’s a positive cycle.

How I’m becoming more present

Yoga

I’ve already mentioned yoga as an important reason behind my decision to focus on presence this year and, of course, practicing every day at home, as well as going to regular classes, is going to be important for me. I already have a morning routine and I’m going to stick to it as I move through this year. It was very beneficial for my physical health last year, so I want that to continue and put a greater focus on emptying my mind.

Adventuring in nature

When I’m out walking with Franklin I’m trying not to think too much about what else I have to do - and I try not to get my phone out. I might use it to take the odd picture, but that’s it. I don’t tend to call people, reply to messages or emails or browse the internet while I’m walking the dog. Aside from anything else, I value spending that time with him, out in nature.

To stop myself getting distracted, I look for specific things while I’m walking. In the summer that might be lizards hiding in walls, or in the spring I’ll try to spot the first crocuses and daffodils. I watch birds, I get absorbed by the movement of the sea. The most important thing is that I notice these things, I feel the wind or the rain, I smell the flowers and I hear the rustling of the trees. It’s so calming and it occupies my brain with the here and now, rather than the future or the past.

Dogs make the best adventuring buddies.

Ditching my phone

Using my phone less is another commitment I’m making to myself this year. I’m going to do my very best not to pick it up each time I hear it beep and I’m going to try and spend at least some of every day with it switched off.

One thing I know I’ve done, and that I hate myself for, is looked at my phone while I’m chatting to someone. It’s rude - most of us do it, but that doesn’t change it. I know I do it on occasion and I feel guilty and annoyed with myself every time. So I’m going to stop. If you see me doing this while I’m spending time with you, feel free to point it out.

Meditation

I’m also going to start meditating regularly. Well, I’m going to try. It’s something I’ve meant to do for a long time, but something I’ve never managed to persevere with. So, that’s a resolution of sorts for this year for me - to meditate at least once a week.

Do you have a word of the year for 2018? Or have you been focusing on being more present in your life, and if so what advice do you have?