What is the perfect work-life balance?

For most people, I think, it would be never working at all.

For better or worse, most of us do have to work. For most people, this means a full-time job. So, in a way, freelancing on a flexible schedule is a huge privilege.

Could it also be a curse?

For the past 3 years, I've lived on a strange annual schedule. I work on freelance marketing projects from September to May. That's 7-8 months. And then I take ca 4 months off to rest, work on my literary projects, and travel.

Last year, during these four months off, I wrote half a novel and applied to Creative Writing MA programmes in the UK. I also moved from Paris to London. This means that, for most of the summer, I wasn't specifically vacationing.

I tend to use the words "vacation" and "rest" to signify many things other people would consider work.

Most days last summer, I spent 5h behind my laptop writing a book, and a few hours every evening reading.

However, before I began writing my book in July, I left my Paris apartment, took one month off, and drove around Southern France and Italy. I'd been working 10-12h days for too long, I needed to clear my head.

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Living on a flexible schedule and the ensuing freedom can easily be romanticised. It shouldn't be.

We're used to seeing freelancers' Thailand and cafe pics, and thinking this life is perfect. Well, most of them are struggling to find enough projects to make ends meet. And some of them work 12h-long days.

Also, not all freelancers like their job. As to me, I enjoy working on my marketing projects, so I don't see my work as something evil and awful. It is simply the thing that sometimes separates me from my other interests, e.g. writing.

And even though I've figured out the work-balance that works for me, I think my lifestyle suits fewer people than a stable full-time job.

But I'll let you decide for yourself. In what follows, I will share some insights on freelancing, the good & the bad, the beautiful & the ugly.

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Let's start with nice things...

The most obvious nice thing about working for 8 months out of 12 is that you get 4 months off.

And it is nice. I usually go on my marketing break from May. But I do not necessarily go on a holiday right away. Instead, I work 5 days/week on my writing projects. (Check my literary blog to see what I'm talking about.)

Because I don't have any clients or projects, I can wake up, never check my email or Slack, and just focus on a single creative project.

There's a huge difference between working part-time on marketing and part-time writing a literary text v.s. fully focusing on a writing project. It's all about the available brain space, and whenever I can dedicate myself 100% to writing, I notice my mind processing more relevant ideas and developing them faster.

I feel that my 4-month period of freedom is so valuable that whenever I travel or just hang out on a weekday, I feel like I'm wasting my time.

I suppose some people would like to have the 4 months off to just do nothing, perhaps travel or rest. I feel I have to do more to justify the hard-won days.

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But even when working on literary projects for the entire summer, I can still do whatever I want, occasionally. I can visit friends or my grandparents in their summerhouses; go out on Wednesdays and make up for the lost day on Sunday; spend a week actually doing nothing, e.g. travelling.

And the nice bit is that I don't have to negotiate my vacation weeks with anyone – I just do whatever comes to mind, with 1h notice time.

I always aim to earn enough money during my work months to enjoy the vacation period and do whatever I want. This said, I also save up in summer when living in Estonia, at my parents' or friends' places.

Already in mid-August, I begin thinking about marketing work again. I announce that I'm accepting new clients and do a few intro calls. That's also because I begin to worry about my finances.

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To sum up, the nicest things about freelance life (for me) are:

• I'm free to do whatever I want for 4 months per year, without having to check email or Slack.
• I can focus 100% of my creative projects, like writing a book or some critical reviews, reading, and occasionally travelling.
• I can say yes to anything that comes to mind, without planning ahead.

Additionally...

• As I receive quite a lot of project offers, I can choose which clients I want to work with. I get to meet lots of new people.
• I can work with multiple clients at a time and never get bored.
• I don't have to go to the office every day; I get to work from home and cafes.
• Sometimes, when I work intense 10-12h days, I can earn more money in one month than I'd get paid in three months on a full-time job.
• Most of my collaboration projects run for 3-4 months. I can fix something and then step out, and don't have to deal with the HR and team-lead side of running a marketing team.

Sounds dreamy?

Well... All these benefits have to be earned with hard work and effort. So let's talk about 'em.

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The reasons NOT to want a freelance career...

The most obvious reason is that you'll probably fail to get enough clients on a stable schedule.

I sometimes get LinkedIn messages from strangers who ask: "Could we have a video call, I'd like to start freelancing and have some questions about finding projects."

I never reply. Were this person smart, they could reverse engineer any successful freelance marketer's career path on their own.

It usually goes like this:

1. Work for 5+ years for a fast-growth company, become marketing team lead or senior expert in some specific area. Work 10-12h per day for years.
2. Meanwhile, become a thought leader by publishing original blog posts and posting on LinkedIn. Takes ca 10 extra hours every week.
3. Get your first freelance clients while working your full-time job. Deliver so much value that they'll refer you to their friends.
4. Go full freelance only when you have enough clients.
5. Keep blogging, LinkedIn marketing, and possibly also running a newsletter while working 40h+ per week on freelance projects.

It takes a particular personality type to be a successful freelancer.

Without a boss or team to give you tasks and deadlines, you have to set your own tasks, and constantly push yourself to meet self-imposed deadlines.

And, well, you've got to excel at the services you provide. Otherwise, why would any company hire you as a freelancer if they could get a full-time person for the same budget?

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However... Even though I've established myself as a "marketing influencer" and get lots of project offers, I sometimes think it would be so nice to have a stable, full-time job...

The reasons I sometimes (although rarely) miss having a full-time job:

1. Having a team of friends around me, and an office to go to.
2. Having a stable monthly income instead of once-a-year dividends.
3. Being told by other people what to do. (I sometimes get tired of having to push myself.)
4. Other people carrying the risk of building a company and paying my salary.
5. Not having to deal with accounting, intro calls, self-promotion, blogging, newsletters, etc.
6. Having paid vacation time for 4-6 weeks every year.

And, perhaps most importantly, it would be so nice to leave work every day around 6-7pm, go home and not think about it until the next working day.

During my 8-month marketing work period, I have months when I work 80h per week. Work eat, sleep is all that I do. I have almost no time for reading, writing, travelling, long nights out, etc.

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But this is all so worth it.

Every year, as I reach the end of my 8-month work marathon, I feel I have earned my freedom.

I have eaten my carrots and earned my palmier.

I am free to spend all my days reading and writing, and to take long walks around town, be it Paris or London.

I would have it no other way. And I'm willing to work hard throughout the year to have these 4 months of intellectual and emotional bliss.

And now, it's almost the time...

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But first, send me your questions!

This is the penultimate marketing newsletter of my marketing season.

Before I log off LinkedIn and Slack for the next 4 months, I'll do one more newsletter.

I want to answer all your questions about freelancing, including the money talk.

The only question I won't answer is "How to get clients?" I've already reflected on that one in this email.

Send me your questions by replying to this email or on LinkedIn, and I'll cover them in the April 26 newsletter.

And then I'm off to work on my non-fiction book on the human-nature relationship + my own and my grandmother's memories related to forests. Nerdy? – Absolutely.

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Merci! 🐿️

This is the 13th (!!) Marketing Things newsletter and I appreciate all of you who have subscribed. Send your feedback and thoughts by replying to this email.

Thanks for reading!
Karola