The slow season used to mean panic, now it means planning for me
Five years ago when I first started freelancing in Austin, a quiet month would send me into a spiral. I'd refresh my email like a hundred times a day, checking for any new inquiry. I once took a $200 project that ended up taking 40 hours just because I was scared to say no. Now after going through maybe 15 slow cycles, I finally get it. I still get that pit in my stomach sometimes, but I use the downtime to work on stuff I usually ignore like my portfolio site or that ebook idea I keep pushing off. Last February was dead quiet for me, so I spent 3 weeks learning how to do basic animation in After Effects. That new skill actually landed me 2 gigs in March that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Has anyone here found a specific skill they picked up during a dry spell that paid off later?