Things That Saved Me On The Job
Freelancing has proven itself to be one of the most valuable thing I've done in my life so far. Not necessarily my first choice in terms of stability, but it has quickly instilled in me the true meaning of being adaptive and hard working. This entry isn't about sugar coating the fact that freelancing is this ultimate princess land, where your clients arrive on a glittering unicorn and you can eat pints of ice cream in front of your mac without getting the keyboard all sticky.
Just driving from location to location is exhausting. But there have been some scary situations where I've had to pull myself together to get stuff done. There are definitely things I couldn't done without the help of a few things.
Loud Obnoxious Music
Los Angeles is a big county. Double that including the fact that at least half of my clientele are in Orange County, south of the 105 freeway. Nothing makes a 3 hour drive more bearable than a playlist of your dirtiest guilty pleasure music ever. I won't post specific song titles just because it's downright self-incriminating (maybe on a future blog.)
I know i'm not the only one that does this. The other day on the road I looked to rearview mirror behind me to see this fully dressed CEO-esque person totally rocking it out to his radio. Full hand motion, screaming at the top of his lungs and even pointing at other cars as if they were his audience in Nashville. Rock on, man. Rock on.
Loud Obnoxious Music (part 2)
As much as I love the idea of open-plan offices, I'm generally not the most productive person in that sort of setting. My eyes wander to new sights and sounds. My mind walks into conversations that are occurring onto the other side of the room. Thanks for my shmancy noise canceling in-ear headphones, it's as if I have the entire office to myself.
Naps
I can't help it. I'm a night owl. I could have a call time at 6 am and I'll still stay up well past midnight on most nights. I'm not the best when sleep deprived. I remember arriving at work not remembering how I got there in the first place. I told my supervisor at the time I needed to take a quick call... ended up in the men's bathroom stall sawing logs for a couple of hours unnoticed. Despite being unconscious for about half my agreed time, I ended up getting all the job tickets wrapped up after all.
Having a Pen
Having a pen on you can make you the man of the hour. I don't know how many things I've been asked to sign and no one in the room had a pen but me. Without it who knows what kind of under-the-table shady mobster work I could've been a part of? Okay, so that question was a bit too fantastical, but lending someone a pen is actually a great way to wedge in yourself into a networking conversation.
My Laptop
My 15" macbook pro from early 2008 is a dinosaur in comparison to what is out there. Because I have my new iMac and iPad, I barely use the thing. It sits in its little neoprene case under the passenger seat of my car with its charger. My employers are usually pretty good about warning me about not having a work station available on location. Once in a blue moon I'll get the call (usually while stuck in traffic) so you brought your laptop right? Well, would have been nice to know in advance so I could charge the thing. But at least it was there and was just barely fast enough to get me through some important work before deadline.
My iPhone
I am not a paid advertiser. But seriously... how did I live without my smartphone? There have definitely been moments where a job had to be scanned and sent out at a moments' notice or goodbye paycheck. I downloaded a cheap scanner app and I now use it more than my actual scanner. As an illustrator it's nice to snap a reference document and send it to whatever work station you're at.