The debate over turning down work vs taking anything that comes

Had a chat with an old freelancer buddy at a coffee shop last Wednesday. He was telling me I should never say no to any job during a slow patch. Said his rule is "my rate, their deadline, I don't care what it is." But I've got this other guy I met at a co-working space in Austin who's totally the opposite. He turned down a $200 data entry gig last fall because it wasn't in his niche. Said it messed up his focus for weeks. Now I'm stuck wondering which approach actually works better. Do you guys take any work that shows up or do you stick to your lane even when it's quiet?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai_ramirez3813d ago

Last March, I took on a website proofreading job that paid 60 bucks just because I had a slow week. I hated every second of it, the guy kept changing his mind, and I ended up spending way more time than I planned. Meanwhile my buddy Jesse who refinishes furniture turned down a simple painting job last winter because it wasn't his style, and then he spent two weeks rearranging his garage and overthinking everything instead. So honestly, neither approach feels perfect to me. Sometimes a crappy gig messes with your head worse than sitting empty does, but other times any money coming in beats staring at your phone waiting for something better. I think it depends on the job and where your head is at that month.

abbyf7913d ago

And that 60 bucks probably ended up costing you about 15 an hour once you factor in the headache. Sounds like you bought yourself a lesson in setting boundaries with cheap clients. Jesse's garage rearrangement might have been dumb but at least he didn't have some guy texting him at 9pm about a comma. Sometimes the worst paying jobs are the ones that make you want to throw your laptop out the window, which is a hidden cost nobody talks about. It's like choosing between getting rained on or getting sunburned, neither one feels good but at least one doesn't ruin your whole week.

dakota_miller9313d ago

Huh, I gotta push back on that a little. In my experience, those small annoying jobs actually teach you more about your own limits than the easy ones do. Yeah it sucks in the moment, but figuring out what you won't put up with saves you way more headache down the road.