When To Let Go of a Gig

marybabysteps — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:51:53 -0700

I'm still alive! Did you miss me? I've missed you and this blog. I truly have. This summer has been quite an eye-opener for me. Having the kids home all day keeps a mom extremely busy. On a personal note, it's been fun. We've gone to the pool and played outside. On a professional note, it's really caused me to reevaluate some things.

Letting Things Go

I decided to drop a blogging job because I found that it was becoming too stressful to try to keep up with it on a daily basis, especially when considering the money the job paid. I'm really not begrudging the employer. There's a lot of controversing in the freelance world about how much to accept for your writing, and it's a very personal decision. I know that employers have to work within their means, in many cases. But I also know that I no longer felt fulfilled by accepting the rate the job was paying.

When I took the gig, it was exclusively on a topic I knew a great deal about. Coming up with daily content was not extremely difficult, and I was able to write a post during my son's nap time and was still able to keep up with my other pursuits. Since the kids have gotten out of school and the blog's topic has changed a bit, I realized that I needed to prioritize.

Things Happen For a Reason

Here's the amazing part. I decided to let that job go so that I could focus on my kids and my blogs, with the full intention of digging up new blogging gigs when the kids go back to school. As soon as I made that decision, an offer for new, higher-paying work came in, and I decided to go for it.

Even though I'm still spread thin right now, this new connection seems beneficial in that it's exposing me to a more in-depth kind of writing than the short blog posts I'm used to. And making the time to devote to my new endeavor is a little easier when the monetary payout is a bit higher. I feel like I'm growing as a professional, and that means a lot.

What about you? Have you ever made the decision to let a paid gig go? What made you come to that decision, and what were the results? I'd love to hear your story.

Adventures In Freelancing

When To Let Go of a Gig