Archives for July 2012

Why I’m No Longer Fit for an Office Environment

July 26, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’m already several hours into my workday, and I’m still unshowered, wearing the pajama top that sometimes slips down so low I unintentionally flash my husband. My hair hangs in oily, unattractive clumps, and I sorta smell. I mean, I’d like to shower, but I’m pretty sure that as soon as I disrobe, that package I’m expecting will arrive.  This is what I get for not rolling out of bed until after 8 a.m., after my husband has already walked out the door to catch a bus into work.

So I’m sitting here at my computer, taking care of small tasks while my brain still lumbers into wakefulness. I’m tweeting and making my way through my inbox and feeling a bit resentful of all the conference calls I’ve had to be on over the past few weeks.

Because god forbid anyone tries to communicate with me via anything but email.

I have another conference call in under an hour, and I wonder what they’d think if they saw me now. Dirty. Barefoot. My slightly disgusting coffee mug at my side, litter underfoot like sand. [Read more…]

Filed Under: career path, correspondence

Spill It: Is All Your Work Created Equal?

July 17, 2012 by 1 Comment

Somebody help! I have no money left for books!

I have to be honest with you guys.

I haven’t made that much money this year.

I know. I suck.

When I first realized how horrifyingly, dismally low my income was for the first half of 2012, I immediately announced to my husband that I had failed at life, and that — from now on — I was going to be a housewife. I would sweep the floors. Dust the furniture. Scrub the countertops. Frolic with the cats.

Then my husband reminded me that we were about to be juggling two mortgages, plus paying for fertility treatments, and perhaps even springing for my yoga teacher training certification. He basically told me to get a grip.

Then, this week, people started throwing money at me.

In addition to the book I was already ghostwriting, I was suddenly asked to copyedit a manuscript, draw up proposals to manage two social media campaigns for two separate clients, and take on another coaching client. Suddenly, I had well-paying work coming out my hoo-ha.

Hallelujah!

It’s a relief to be sure, but I have to say… when I think back to the preceding six months, I can’t really say that the work that’s rolling in now is any more important to me than the work I was doing before. [Read more…]

Filed Under: spill it

How to Let Go of Having It All

July 13, 2012 by 4 Comments

In viewing an infographic developed by JESS3 that aims to give readers a peek inside the mind of freelancers, I was completely unsurprised to learn that “lack of clear direction / path” is one of the top three things that keeps freelancers up at night.

I can certainly relate. I’ve recently been engulfed in my own period of ennui. Though I’ve been working on many different things, I’ve been feeling a bit ambivalent about it all. As I asked my husband just the other day, “What the hell am I even working toward!?”

(I also suggested that I might do better as a housewife, but Michael just rolled his eyes and told me I’d snap out of it soon.)

Part of this is probably due to stress over unsuccessful IUI treatments, the continuing short sale process, and the up-in-the-air status of my book.

But could it also be that – gasp! — I’m just doing too much? [Read more…]

Filed Under: career path Tagged With:

How To Handle a Career Setback with Finesse

July 5, 2012 by 12 Comments

I started writing about my attempts to get pregnant a little over two years ago, in May 2010. I had been asked to launch a parenting blog for YourTango, and the timing seemed fortuitous. By September 2011, however, I was writing about infertility, and my husband and I had made our first appointment at a fertility clinic about a half hour away.

After a long series of tests, we finally started a medication cycle early last month. Michael injected me every evening with a medication designed to boost follicular growth. Almost every other morning, I woke up early to drive to the fertility center, where I received bloodwork and an ultrasound. After being artificially inseminated, I started taking progesterone pills twice a day, which made me break out to an extent reminiscent of my junior high years (sigh).

This past Sunday, I woke up early once again to get my last bit of bloodwork. This one would be a pregnancy test. [Read more…]

Filed Under: career path, words of wisdom Tagged With: , ,