Life Changes
My life is about to change, big time: I've accepted a full-time job offer.

I've been freelancing full time for nearly three years now. That arrangement was necessary when I first returned to Ohio, but it became clear to me rather quickly that it wasn't the right long-term solution for me. The unpredictability of the income and the expense of buying individual health insurance are the biggest financial drawbacks for me as a single person with a mortgage, but even more important than that, I hate having to hustle for jobs and dealing with the paperwork and paying that extra 7+% "self-employment tax" that I've bitched about here several times before. I will continue to do a select few freelance jobs on the side, but they'll be the ones I enjoy working on, and I have no intention of spending every spare second of off time working on freelance projects.

The biggest adjustment for me is going to be having a rigid work schedule again. I'm very used to setting my own hours and being able to mold work time around fun time, rather than vice versa. (You could say I'm spoiled rotten in this regard -- I'll agree.) I like being free to meet up with friends like Wendy or Tim pretty much whenever I feel like I need a break. On the other hand, I will regain my weekends as days off. As a freelancer I've never been able to discipline myself to confine my work to set days and hours and have drifted into the practice of doing work in chunks of a couple hours here, a couple hours there over the course of the entire waking day all week long, including weekends (like today). Sometimes it seems as if I am always at work and always have something hanging over my head. It will be nice to have two whole days off each week again by design, even if I end up spending some of that off time working on other projects, and to have my workplace separate from my house for the most part.

The commute is kind of a long one in the Northeast Ohio scheme of things -- about 45 minutes -- but I'm not all that concerned about it. I have had no commute at all for the past four years, so I figure I'm due. Driving doesn't bother me. I have no fear of crossing the Cuyahoga River -- my eastside friends have already made me an honorary eastsider. Listening to Morning Edition on NPR makes time fly by. My public library is well stocked with books on CD and CDs for learning new languages. I think I'll survive, even though I won't be able to run home on my lunch hour. It will be nice to have a new area of the city to explore, too.

The best part is that the job promises to be interesting and engaging. It will be a stretch for me, and I really need a challenge. My brain sometimes feels like it's going to mush from lack of use. The company for which I'll be working is on the leading edge in using technology to manage content and the publishing process, and I'm eager to be back in an environment where I'll be able to learn some new computer tricks. Everyone I've met so far seems to be very personable and friendly, the kind of people I'd be interested in having as friends.
- posted by Lori @ 1:18:00 PM | permanent link | |