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?

3 comments

3 Comments

rivera.hannah6d ago

Wait, are we really calling a $200 project for 40 hours a learning moment though? I mean yeah, I get the fear of turning stuff down early on, but that's less a lesson and more just... being taken advantage of. I had a similar thing happen with a logo job that paid $150 and took forever, but honestly the real lesson for me was that I should've walked away way earlier instead of convincing myself it was "building my portfolio." That panic you talked about, the email refreshing, that's real. But I think sometimes we romanticize the bad deals too much instead of just admitting we got played and moving on.

aaronroberts6d ago

Holy crap, $200 for 40 hours? That's basically $5 an hour. I would've been furious with myself after that one. But honestly props for turning that fear into something positive. Most people just keep taking garbage projects forever instead of learning from it.

fionat556d ago

Showed up to a side gig once where the client promised me "exposure" instead of payment. I was young and dumb and actually did the work. Ended up being a total disaster when I found out the "exposure" was them posting my work on their personal Facebook page with like 12 followers. That experience taught me more than any paid job ever did though. Made me realize I needed to set real boundaries and ask for money upfront like a proper adult. Have you had any other learning experiences like that where a bad deal actually helped you grow?