Book Review: My So-Called Freelance Life

I’m a freelancer.  Yeah I sit at home all day in shorts and a t-shirt, iTunes cranked working on whatever I feel like working on all day long.  Ok so it’s not quite like that.  I do get to wear whatever I want, but I have to turn the iTunes down when clients call and my work is usually dictated by whoever screams the loudest.  :D

I mentioned a while back that I was reading an amazing book for freelancers by Michele Goodman called “My So-Called Freelance Life”.  At the time, I didn’t think I would learn a whole lot from yet another book about freelancing.  After all I am an established, disciplined and diligent worker and I have more work than I know what to do with most days.  What more could I possibly need to know?

And then disaster struck.

I took “My So-Called Freelance Life” with me to a band rehearsal, figuring I could read a few chapters from my drum cage while the vocalists worked out parts on a new song.  I was happily reading along when I got to page 35 where it said “Make a (Digital) Disaster Plan”.  My first reaction was “Well I have a backup drive, I’m ok”.  Little did I know I was about to be challenged by that.

Upon arriving home one hour later, I was greeted by a lovely blank screen on my MacBookPro. The logic board was fried.  To make things worse, I couldn’t connect to my backup drive from any other machine!  Aaaaagh!  Data loss was not the issue – it was “how in the heck am I going to keep working while my computer is in the shop for the next 10 days?”  Suddenly I remembered page 35 and I quickly re-read it and immediately began fleshing out a new game plan should this ever happen to me again.

And if that page wasn’t enough, I turned to the next one and there is Michelle reminding me about ergonomics.  Now I work from a wonderful desk that I hand picked after months of searching, but the chair…um…it’s a $50 bargain from Office Max and frankly, I hate it.  No arm rests and it’s always lowering itself when I need it to be higher (I’m short), plus the “leather” is peeling off on the sides and it looks atrocious.  I never paid attention to my chair until I read that part and now I’m on the hunt for a really nice (and ergonomically correct) chair before I end up an old and crippled freelancer who is permanently shaped in the sitting position.

What else have I picked up from “My So-Called Freelance Life“?  LOTS of hints, ideas and tricks that work!  This book went far beyond the usual “be organized – be professional” mantras from the other books I’ve read.  There is a lot of bite-size information that packs a powerful punch if you’ll take the time to digest it.  In fact, I gained so many ideas from this book that it’s taken me over 2 months just to get to the book review because so many ideas started flowing for things I needed to take care of to make my life as a freelancer a little easier.  If you’re looking for a productivity boost for your freelancing career in 2009, pick up a copy of Michelle Goodman’s “My So-Called Freelance Life” and get cracking.