Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
so how do you do it?
dieter | Nov 8 2005
Nothing like a descriptive subject line, eh? Sorry about that. Here's the situation. My day job, while quite good as these things go (pay is good, coworkers are great, that sort of thing), is kicking my ass in terms of my ability to be creative. The absolute last thing I want to do when I get home is sit in front of a computer for another moment, which sucks, given that I'm a web developer. This morning I was in a McDonalds (the McGriddle is a damned fine way to deal with angst), and I noticed that they had free wireless access. I found myself jealous of folks that get to hang out at Mickey D's all day long -- a feeling I haven't had to deal with since sixth grade. But a life free from corporate baloney sounds so wonderful that I'd be willing to put up with a higher cholesterol count. So how do you get the hell out of dodge, especially when you have a family? More fundamentally, how do you figure out exactly what you want to do, when you don't have Po Bronson on speed dial? I'm aware that the grass is always greener on the other side of the cubicle, and that working freelance (or something of that nature) brings with it a certain amount of its own baloney as well. So what are the options? How is baloney minimized and creativity maximized? I know I'm not breaking any new ground with these questions, but something has got to be working to some degree for somebody. Any thoughts? 10 Comments
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 When you wrote: "...kicking my...Submitted by #2Penciler on November 17, 2005 - 7:35pm.
When you wrote: After rereading your post (and the very helpful replies it generated), I wondered if you might NOT throw the baby out with the corporate bathwater -- maybe you can have your cake (steady paycheck, nice colleagues, supportive structure, etc.) and eat it too. This is nothing new; flex hours, telecomuting, down-sizing and part-timing can work for you as well as it works for the big guys. Consider the hours you work: must they be in that exact time frame of 9 - 5 (or whatever)? Or can you pull your 40 hours per week whenever you want as long as the work gets done? (If you're a morning-idea person, schedule the job-job for the afternoons, etc.) Or can you get by on fewer hours? Must the job-job be done at that office cube? Can some get done at home? I could list dozens of options for keeping what you like about the job and trading the rest for what you want to do -- and then propose to sell that back to your company as an outside vendor. I have no idea what you'd like to be creative AT, but one of the first ways to think outside the box is to think outside the schedule, responsibilities, duties, hours and cubicle you may (mistakenly) think you're tied to. If you could invent your perfect day (ie: sleep in, brainstorm with great colleagues on a project over breakfast, shower and catch up on the news, accomplish a task for a few hours, answer questions as an expert, brainstorm, present an idea, win bids, go to a movie with friends, etc. -- and get paid for all of it), write it out, even diagram it if you want, and freestyle your thoughts on what that day/week/month looks like -- tailored to your skills, talents, pleasures, etc. Then think about who would pay you for that effort. Your current employer? One of thier clients or vendors or partners? One of your colleages? A competitor? A slim book, HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL CONSULTANT IN YOUR OWN FIELD has ideas that will help you consider how to earn a living at what you're good at, even while you think about how to get paid for doing what you love -- which is where we all want to end up. I'm one of those lucky ones, and once you focus on what it is you LOVE to spend your time doing, what you'd do for FREE, then you'll see ways to make a good living offering it to people who want that. Go to it! » POSTED IN:
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