Something Has Got to Give
In freelance life, there comes a point when you have to learn to streamline, to say yes to some opportunities and turn others down. I've also learned that scaling back on some passion projects to make space for more lucrative/exciting/fun opportunities is just part of the job.
Since transitioning my content from my former blog over to this space, I've noticed a shift in the way I prefer to approach my editorial schedule, how ideas percolate and what type of information I want to share. The transition also coincided with a pretty significant uptick in the amount of freelance work coming my way. "Grateful" does not even begin to describe how I feel about that development. Having access to multiple creative outlets is something I've been working toward for some time and I couldn't be happier with how it's all working out.
That said, there have been sacrifices. For example, one of the projects I've had to set aside is the photography print shop. Was it fun? You bet. Was it worth the time I was investing? No. I also stepped back from some non-paying contributing positions in an effort to transfer that time over to paid opportunities...
...Which brings me to this space. I love it. I will always love it. I'm just beginning to realize that I need to slow it down and be here a little less. I've always looked at slow blogging as good blogging. The good stuff takes time. A lot of time. Time that could be spent on other writing and editing opportunities, taking better care of myself and focusing on quality time with my loved ones.
So with a slower editorial pace in mind, there may be a few shifts happening over the next several months. Starting next week, I'll be focusing on creating solid content here once or twice a week and spreading my love for writing and editing to other projects (which I'll also share here, of course!). I'm also toying around with the idea of taking the summer off from sponsorships to remind myself how it feels to write in this space solely for us, rather than writing with the numbers in mind.
What won't change? Many of my favorite features, the podcast (I'll have a new episode out on Wednesday!) and a continued focus on creativity, adventure and cool finds.
So you see, it won't be a huge shift. You'll just see a little less of me popping up in your feed readers and inboxes, which—let's face it—isn't the worst thing that could happen, right? ;)
-------
So tell me: have you ever hit a point in work or life (or both) where something just had to give? How did you handle it, my friends? I'm all ears.