It’s getting hard to ignore. I simply cannot make small talk anymore.

Generally I don’t interact with people until later in the day- 3:30 and on. I drop my children off at school in the morning, and go home to put all of my brain and word power into whatever project is at my fingertips. Around 3:00 or 3:30 I head to the school. I do a lot of volunteer work for the school, which means I head over early to speak with teachers, use the copy machine, or pass out some PTO mail.

While standing at the copier the other day, I realized I was having a really hard time coming up with convo with the other people in the room. I realized that it was overwhelming for me to have several people  talk to at once. I realized that these people spend 7 hours a day with 30 other people, and are really adept at having 20 different conversations in 2 hours. I simply cannot. I have grown accustomed to 6 hours of quiet (accept for the roar of the net).

This is not good. Yesterday, for example, I met with a client at a coffee shop, and had trouble making small talk and finishing coffee after our business was finished. I think she could tell.

It’s odd. I used to spend 8 hours a day on a cube farm floor with over 200 people. When I worked at MSU I was treated to the most intriguing conversation with PhD students, research assistants, and professors from all corners of the globe. I used to regularly speak with professors at UNAM (Mexico) and Erasmus (Rotterdam). I edited while speaking with a UK publisher on my head set. I watched a student’s slide show of her Indian wedding while faxing contracts to Greece, listening for the one Greek phrase I knew: ”push one now to fax”! And I pulled it off, day after day. But somehow, I’ve got to the point where I don’t have the brain capacity by 3:30 to have two conversations while also working the copy machine!

Two weekends ago it was my friend A.’s birthday, and they had a fire and some drinks. That worked out fine, so I think it may be a small talk thing. Or a resistance to multitasking. I’m not sure.

What I do know, though, is that I manipulate words 6 hours a day- and I do it well. So if I need recovery time at the end of the day, so be it. I’d rather put out 100% for my clients and my own works then talk about the weather (I suppose…this post does make me miss working at MSU).

Please, someone, tell me I’m not the only writer who runs out of words by 3:30!

My buddies over at Freelance Parent share their company’s income every month. I’ve deccided to share for this month, at least. Why? Because I think it presents a real picture of the freelance life- at least mine, anyway.

This month I worked 75 hours. That’s about what full timers work in 2 weeks. I work, officially, 9a-3p, although it’s hardly ever a full out 6 hours (that would have been 120 hours this month). I brought in $3,103.18, which is approximately $41/hr.

Am I happy with this number? You see, the income, I believe, is based on the two months before it comes in, as those are likely the months that the jobs were sought out and done (probably- though not all). So, considering that I worked less than 150 hours through the WHOLE of the summer, it’s ok. It would be unacceptable for any month October-May, though.

Ok, now that my “but, but”’s are out of the way, here’s where that money came from:

$50 Downpayment on a book review (new client)

$1380 Editoral management of a local magazine (established client, happens quarterly)

$100 Pay for short article in niche magazine, regional, south (established client)

$175 Remainder for press kit (established client)

$897 Web content (established client)

$500 Remainder for magazine article, regional, lifestyle, texas-based (established client)

Five established clients, one new. Three print articles, one web contract, one editorial and one copywriting.

Many newbs stumble through to this blog from my About.com site, and they come up with all kinds of great questions about getting into freelancing. But I will say there are a select few who have no clue what they’re getting into (which is ok, as it’s part of my job over there to teach them that very thing.)

One perk many people are stuck on is the home office. Ahh, the home office. A couple months back I did a vlog (video blog) post sharing my office space. I do spend many an hour in this particular room of the house (7 of them yesterday, to be exact.) But it’s not all rainbows and sunshine here.

Here are some pitfalls of the home office:

• No immediate tech support. If your computer dies, you’re dead in the water. That’s it. Same goes for the wireless connection, the printer, the software, etc. So very many ways to kill your productivity.
• The chores are calling. You know, when I worked at Michigan State University, I used to loathe the dark, dank, scary ladies restroom on my floor. Really- I hated it. But when I leave THIS office to go to the restroom, I have to walk by the dining room (dusty) and the laundry room (full). That’s very distracting.
• PBJ Sandwhiches. I miss Woody’s Mediterranean Restaurant. I miss eating with others. I’m beginning to despise PBJ. Oh, the horror.
• Interruptions. I have a wandering mind. When the neighbor pops by, I’m frazzled for an hour, trying to get back on track. If a friend calls to socialize, I’m likely to say yes. Which means MORE 7 hour Sundays. Which I do not like. I need a boss. Which reminds me…
• Being the boss. Yes, I’m bossy. But most of my directives include “Get on the darn elliptical, Allena.” Ya know, things I’m not supposed to be doing. I need a whip around. I miss accountability. Luckily, my husband, who pays the bills, is more than happy to step into that role sometimes.
• Summer. Summer killed me. It really did. The sun, the kids, the beach. All that stuff was like a dagger in my heart. Man, am I paying for it now.

Another misconception that I hear alot is that this is a job that can be done with children present. I’ve talked about this before, I know. I just wonder who these supermoms are who can write a business proposal with Spongebob in the background. It’s definitely not me. My children cannot cross the invisible line into my office (I rarely use the door). This would never work with toddlers or, especially, infants. If you can do it, more power to you. But I had my children home 3 days a week over the summer, and the whole “livable wage” thing certainly dwindled.

So, go into this career (as any) with eyes wide open and a reality check. Happy Monday!