This time, however, I want to take a moment and tell you what I love about freelancing:

1) Waking up when my children wake up (as opposed to setting an alarm).

2) Choosing great clients and discarding those who are emotionally difficult.

3) Taking a break to nurse my baby on demand.

4) Being paid to learn about advances in medical science.

5) Taking a break to walk around the neighborhood.

6) Using my PhD in a way that I never dreamed possible as I sacrificed mouse after mouse after mouse. . .

7) Thawing and marinating the chicken in time for dinner.

8) Invoicing and receiving checks on time.

9) Buying a fancy computer as a business expense.

10) Receiving and giving a steady stream of hugs and kisses from my two little girls throughout the day.

Looking through this list, I seem to be taking a lot of breaks and perhaps I do. My list reveals what is for me the greatest joy of freelancing: balance. I find clients I enjoy working with and ideally I plan correctly and accept just the perfect number of projects to keep the money coming in and the breaks plentiful. Of course it doesn’t always work like that, but when it does, it is a beautiful thing!

-- Lara Pullen, PhD

Freelance Fulcrum