Realized I was chasing the wrong kind of work for way too long

Honestly, it clicked last month when I saw my calendar was full of $500 gigs that each took a week, while a buddy landed one $5k project that gave him breathing room for two months. How do you spot the difference between busy work and the stuff that actually pays the bills?

4 comments

4 Comments

morganl711mo ago

That calendar of $500 gigs is just a fancy to-do list for broke people.

miaprice1mo ago

Look at it like a ladder, morganl71. Those $500 gigs build the client list and reviews you need to land the $2k ones. The calendar isn't for broke people, it's for people building a real business from scratch. You have to prove you can deliver before anyone trusts you with bigger money.

the_spencer1mo ago

Oof, that's the worst feeling. It's all about the time versus money math. If a job takes more hours than the pay is worth, it's just busywork. The good stuff pays enough that you're not immediately scrambling for the next thing.

rose_perry121mo ago

That "time versus money math" thing is so true. I read something once that stuck with me, it said to always ask if a job is a step or a stop. A step moves you toward bigger things, a stop just keeps you in place. Those week long $500 gigs feel like stops. You finish and you're right back where you started, desperate for the next one. The goal has to be finding the work that acts like a step, where you finish and actually have some space to look up and plan.