Welcome back to Austen Promises and the Writer’s Journal!
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As a full-time writer, I work for myself. This means that I set my own schedule, I decide when and where I work, how hard I work, how much I produce, and everything else that comes along with working/having a job. I’m the boss. Wait … let me say that in a better way. I’m The Boss. 🙂
There are lots of benefits to being the boss, most of which I listed above. I can decide when and where I want to work. On cold days I can cuddle up in my office chair with a blanket and a big mug of tea and pound away at the keyboard. In the summer when it’s hot, I can park myself in the shade with my laptop and write outside. Or, I can hie myself to the local library or McDonald’s (since this town has no coffee shops.)
I decide what my output for any given day should be. I can decide to write 3,000 words if my morning has gone well, or 500 words if I did not get much sleep the night before. Of course, if I want to eat – and I definitely want to do that – I must have more of those good days than the bad ones. 🙂
I can also take days off without doctor’s excuses or making application for personal days.
A prime example is last October, when I was the sickest I had been in years. I laid in bed for three or four days and got zero work done … and did not have to get up and pay for a doctor to write me a note to give to HR at work. While I was stressed that I was unable to accomplish anything (including watching tv and reading, because those things made me nauseous. Literally all I did was lay in bed and sleep or stare at the ceiling), I also could stay in and not spread my germs.
This benefit is currently being taken advantage of again.
Last Thursday, as readers who are connected with me on Facebook or through my mailing list know, I had to put one of my dogs to sleep. I was totally unable to work that day and most of the next. I made the decision to take a few days off, doing only what I felt like I was able to do. I’ll get back to work on Monday, and by the time you read this, I should have been back for two days.
I would not be able to do this if I worked for anyone else. Who gives time off for people to grieve the loss of a pet? No one, in the “real world.” But, as a small business owner/entrepreneur/authorpreneur, I am in charge, and I can give myself that time off … and I have.
Yes, I feel guilty about all the things I’m not getting done, but I learned when my mom died in 2008 that you have to give yourself time after a death to grieve the loss, or it will come back to bite you in the butt. I do not want a repeat of that.
Every day I find something new to love about being my own boss.
Come back next Wednesday for another peek into my journal! <3
