So how is it?
Flexible days
Well, for one, I no longer have a regular schedule to adhere to. I go about my day at my whim or plan one day ahead at the most. Contrary to before when I already know what I'll be doing and where I'll be going weeks in advance, I now only have tasks maybe I should I finish within the week and places I can be at the following week. I don't have a standard waking and sleeping time and I sometimes don't even use my alarm clock anymore (or if I did, I would let it snooze for an hour or two).To cite an example, yesterday, I was up at 9:00 am to get breakfast and to prepare for my 9:30 am Skype meeting. An hour and a half later, I was debating whether to shower or to squeeze in some work before the 11:30 am check out then decided that personal hygiene is more important. At past 1:00 pm, I was enjoying the passing vehicles and houses on the bus to Moalboal in Cebu. And then at 4:30 pm, I was staring and savoring the setting sun amidst the silhouette of mountains and the glitter of the sea. Finally, at 9:30 pm, after dinner and another shower, I was drinking my coffee and deliberating on my WIP powerpoint.
A week ago, on the same day, it was a different schedule altogether. I was awake only at 10:00 am and took an hour to settle down for work. And then I sat in front of my laptop until 10:00 pm, taking frequent pee and water breaks, as well as FB breaks, when I decided I wanted to get beer from Shakey's.
And then for tomorrow, I'm not sure what time I should be up but I know that breakfast is only until 10:00 am and that checkout is at 12:00 nn before which I want to walk 15 minutes to enjoy that small cluster of white sand up north.
Each day is different and I need to frequently make quick calls and to maintain foresight to make sure I remain productive and avoid unnecessary obstacles. Although I like the flexibility and freedom, it gets tiring at times.
Unstable income
Another, I'll never know how much I'll be earning week after week. Sure, I have a target in mind but my earnings is usually directly proportional to my working hours. That is, the more hours I work, the bigger my income will be. The tricky part here is that I can't afford to miss more than two days of work within the week which means that I should still follow the 5-day work week schedule no matter where I am. And I basically need to allocate at least two hours of work each day in order to be sustainable. If not, then my lifestyle is operating at a big loss.Thinking of whether I have worked long enough for the week to support next week's possibilities tend to be toxic. But I really try not to think about it while watching the sunset or while sitting in a bus.
*****
Having lots of free time, being able to work from anywhere, and working only when you please may sound like THE dream. However, this requires a whole lot of self-discipline and self-motivation. There'll be no bosses to keep watch on you, no hard deadlines to run after, and no regulations to guide you. Every move and every result is dependent on you and it is really very easy to end up doing nothing at all than accomplishing just one thing.Most people would think I'm so lucky (and rich) because I'm just bouncing around from one place to another and being on vacation. But the truth is, I'm always working and contemplating problems, if not on my laptop then in my head.
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| View from my "office" at some days |
