The flexibility of freelance
The freedom freelancing gives you means it allows opportunities to travel and work anywhere.
When I was coming to the end of my degree, I considered different career paths and there wasn't a job that excited me. But the idea that I could go anywhere and work (as long as I have my laptop and camera) did and is something that excites me every time I open up my laptop. Being able to dictate where, when and how long I work for suits me perfectly.
Nottingham is a short journey away and for a couple days I met up with Mat to spend time meeting a few of the creatives that keep the city ticking over. Going to a new city is great. Finding the independent stores and cafes that really make a city individual. Luckily for Nottingham there's plenty of these spots.
As a freelancer, they make it easy to get more done on the road before seeing what's next on the to-do list. Our first coffee hangout was over at Outpost Coffee to get some thoughts down using the Bellroy notebook. I'd also recommend checking out Cartwheel if you're in the area.
With some freelance work done and a blog improvement chat with Mat - we're both redesigning our websites - we then headed to Universal Works, Rough Trade and Aesop. Universal Works is offering solid menswear pieces to Nottingham and we even headed to the UW offices the next day to see what's in the pipeline for the future.downicon
Ventuno 21
Camel overcoat
Percival
Rollneck tufted heather
Initial Fashion
Navy trousers
Common Projects
Original Achilles Leather Sneakers
We also visited designers, Lane, located in Primary Studios, friends Ian and Felicity from Campbell Cole and Norm from Waste Studio whose work might be familiar to those who checked out Realm & Empire from my trip to Brighton.
Doing what I do puts me in a very privileged position to be able to have interesting conversations with the people that make the brands what they are. It's important to me to try and meet the people behind the emails and Instagram accounts and make real connections. Only then do I feel I'm able to get a real understanding of a brand. It helps me learn what work has gone into a product and learn information that gets left off press releases. It also means by the end of the campaign I end up working for friends rather than 'just another job'.
Having the ability to work wherever is handy. You only need a pen, notebook and cardholder to get things moving.
As a freelance writer, I'm in charge of where I am and when. To make sure everything gets done, I'll plan ahead on the Sunday evening before the week begins. Take this week for example. Knowing I was going to be away, it meant assigning what needed to be done on my weekly to-do list.
I save this on my laptop in order to try and stay organised and free up some headspace. So on Monday's list it included packing in the evening to make sure I had my essentials, including my cardholder and key cover.
For sometime now I've been using a cardholder instead of a wallet. It's a lot more practical and helps prevent receipts from building up. It's all part of trying to stay as organised as possible by staying on top of small tasks like clutter. I don't want to be pulling out last month's train tickets and invalid passes while looking for my card. I'm always recommending them to friends and they honestly keep things light for short trips.
Having the ability to work wherever is handy. You only need a pen, notebook and cardholder to get things moving. The latter to pay for the caffeine fuel that is customary when working to freelance deadlines. Time to recharge, spend some time behind the desk and start planning the next trip.jbicon
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