Broken Keyboard = Blessing In Disguise

The letter "F" popped off my keyboard today. While some might think of it as a disaster, I'm okay with it. I've popped the keys off keyboards before, and it's actually turned out to be something of a blessing.

Put aside for a second the life skill of knowing how to put keys back on computers. That's a pretty good skill, but that's not the subject of this post. The subject of this post is how sometimes when things break, you get to find a better way of doing things.

In this case, way back last year, I killed the left hand shift key on my computer. I used to be a power shifter, and when I'm in the zone I'm a pretty fast and hard typist. Keys know when they are being pressed, and sometimes - in the case of my poor shift key - they've had all they can handle and they run for cover.

The trouble with the shift key's run for freedom across my desk was that I was in the middle of a book project with a tight deadline. There wasn't a day to take the thing in to be replaced, and my attempts to put the key back on were a failure (my mother has since showed me the way, which I deeply, deeply appreciate. As does my resecured "F" key).

So what's a freelancer to do? Deadline looming, keyboard busted . . . . tears, right?

Actually, CAPSLOCK.

Since the shift key was broken, I had to hit my CAPSLOCK whenever I needed a capital letter. At first, this felt incredibly awkward. My hands kept trying to shift where there was no shift key and it was a royal pain in the palm. I wouldn't get the CAPSLOCK key turned off in time and spent precious minutes with deleting until I retrained my auto-correct.

But then . . . it started to feel natural. And then it started to feel fast.

Now I'm hooked. Forget you, shift key - I've got CAPSLOCK. And CAPSLOCK has my loyalty, because since I got the hang of thumping it for a capital letter and then thumping it again for regular style as opposed to pinning my hand down on the shift key, I type 10 - 15 words faster per minute. You have no idea what that's worth to me under a deadline.

I've CAPSLOCK'D so much I burned my little light out. I don't know how to fix that. But it's much less important than my faster typing speed.

The "F" key reminded me today to be grateful for that original bit of breakage, though, and I just thought I'd share my new tricks with the CAPSLOCK. Give it a go and see how it feels for you, too. What differences do you notice?

Career Pick Me Ups: Client Love

Working outside of an office setting and being your own boss, it is sometimes hard to get that "way to go" love you get from co-workers in a real job when you finish a piece of work. After all, freelancing you work for yourself, and I've found that nobody gives a tougher performance review than I do. Unless I've absolutely knocked it out of the park in my own mind, there's no A+ rating from my internal boss voice.

In the midst of the continual grinding mental 360 review that I am always giving my work, it is FABULOUS to hear the positive voice of a client. My mailbox this morning contained the kind of client feedback I love to see:

"Once again another great job! I am very pleased to be working with you!"

Not that long, not that detailed, but you know what? Acknowledgment and a little praise go a long, long way in this business. This particular piece of feedback is also precious to me this morning because this is a new client I've picked up, and I always get extra nervous working with new clients. I'm also tired from having promised to complete too many projects before this weekend {what is this sleep you speak of?}, and the mental pick me up is very appreciated right now.

In the spirit of spreading the love, if you work with any freelancers . . . or for that matter, if you have anyone around you that you haven't yet thanked for a favor or praised for a job well done, make today the day you share. If it means half as much to them as it does to me, you'll completely make their morning.

How To Really Quit Your Day Job

One of the things that I often hear from people who find out I am a freelancer is "Oh, I wish I could do that."

I say, "You can. What's stopping you?"

This usually gets a nervous laugh and a swift change of subject. Others will laugh and then go, "Oh, I could never do that because of {list of things that may or may not be true obstacles but are usually artificial barriers in my mind}"

The thing is, if you really want to do it, find a way to do it. And if you fail, learn from that and try again.

However, you don't have to be an idiot about it, and there is a lot of great advice out there for people looking to make the switch from day job to freelancing / owning their own business.

I was reminded of that today by Dave Navarro's guest blog on IttyBiz {which is a fabulous resource site, btw}. The post is called, "How To Stop Screwing Around And Really Quit Your Day Job" and if you're even thinking about leaving your day job behind, go read it. Don't tell me you wish you could be a freelancer or have your own business. That doesn't get you anywhere.

Go.

Read.

Do.

Freelancers Look Like Crap

The doorbell rang this afternoon, and I had one of those moments. You know the one. . . Oh, no, someone's going to see me like this!

You think I would be used to this by now. After all, I've been freelancing for a while now, and pajama wear at 4 in the afternoon just comes with the territory. My postman in North Carolina got to see me with a full blue clay mask on one day, too. I'd been busy typing away on an interesting project all day and I answered the door when he knocked without thinking. It happens.

Now, I know that there are other freelancer advice sites out there that will tell you that the only way you are ever going to be a successful freelancer is if you get up and dressed in the morning. Otherwise, you just aren't serious about your business. I mean, how could you possibly be serious about your business unless you are in business attire?

I sometimes wonder where these people find the extra time in the day to waste on hair fixing, shaving, make up applying, doing laundry, and ironing. For that matter, they're a lot less busy than I am if they have time to roam the mall for new business outfits and hit up the dry cleaners on a regular basis.

Frankly, I've got clients who would love it if I never showered again and just worked on their projects non-stop. After all, they don't have to smell me.

I've had to draw the line somewhere, and I fight for personal time. I especially fight for that very wonderful personal time - guilt free personal time, where you are honestly all caught up and not just saying you are so you can have a nice weekend with the family.

Naturally, there are trade offs in every decision you make. I've decided that unless I'm planning to see other people that day, my hairstyle is called "out of my face" and my outfit is modeled after the consistently popular style known as "clean". This means that most of the time by professional standards I look like crap, but I'm (mostly) okay with that.

In my experience, there are thousand of successful freelancers just like me, sitting in comfortable but ugly pants at the computer, wearing natty t-shirts left over from college or high school, and living in fear of unexpected guests at the door. Other people may be better dressed, but I'm getting my work done.