I hate thinking up titles

If you’re a super duper smartypants you may remember that I recently alluded to some things happening here that would hopefully be the catalyst for a positive change in my daily routine. Yes indeedy, as of Monday (yesterday) Karl started working part time: that is, 8am-1pm in his existing job.

You can read the various “why”s over in Karl’s entry but in short the theory is that this gives me all morning to dedicate to the kiddos, and then from about 1:30pm-4:30pm of an afternoon to give to my work while Karl wrangles the monsters. This means I can get more done in the day, which means I should be able to actually have evenings to myself instead of eyes glued to the laptop.

We’re on day 2 of the new hours and already I think it’s working. I mean, I’m still working in the evening because I have so much to do and I’m desperately trying to get a couple of jobs knocked on the head (btw, never work with Drupal) but I’m not switching my laptop on until the afternoon which means my stress levels have plummeted. Instead of darting out of the room to try and cram a few minutes work in every 5 minutes (which inevitably leads to interruption from the kids which means I then get pissy) I can give them my full attention. AND, even though I’m “only” dedicating a small block of time to work instead of the whole day, I’m actually clocking up more time working overall. Case in point: yesterday I managed nearly 4.5 productive hours instead of my usual 2-if-I’m-lucky. (If you work 8 hour days in an office with hot coffee, sod you.)

Financially we will be worse off in the short term I imagine, but only while I get to grips with getting more work in and billed – at which point my hourly rate should more than make up the difference in working hours.

I just hope that this is a permanent change and not just fluke, because I have been so stressed lately I’ve come close to jacking the whole bloody lot in and going back out to work. Cross your fingers, eh?

Posted on: April 16, 2013 · Category: Work 8

Self-employment 6 months on: the good, the bad & the ugly

It’s roughly 6 months since I registered as self-employed and told my mostly-fantastic (he’d kick me for the mostly part) boss of 6 years that I was going to leave. Now’s as good a time as any to give you an update on how that’s going.

The Good

I have spent the past 6 years protesting about interacting with clients, thinking that talking to people was something I was no good at, something I needed someone else to guide. One of my biggest worries about being responsible for myself was that I would not have the motivation to talk to people, to sell myself to them, to help them choose me. Despite this I have managed to secure 2 ‘big’ website contracts, ongoing work with a local company I’ve been working with over the past 6 years and multiple small jobs offline and through social networking.

The Bad

I’ve made mistakes: mistakes that have cost me money. Two ‘big’ ones that spring to mind (that could have been worse, thankfully):

Mistake 1: I entered into my first job, albeit a small one, with no contract or list of what I would and wouldn’t be doing. I had to wait for nearly 2 months to be paid. It ended well, but more out of luck than judgement.

Mistake 2: I have underestimated the amount of time I would spend on back-and-forth communications with clients. Getting specifications finalised, agreeing development schedules, bug testing and feedback, etc. I know this stuff ate a lot of time when I was employed, but when you’re working 9-5 it’s easy for it all to blend into the background. I need to make sure there’s more time for this so that deadlines are not abandoned later on as unrealistic. This brings me to…

The Ugly

I have yet to meet a set deadline. It’s not all been my fault: client hold-ups (deposit payment, tweaks to original spec docs, changing of minds etc) are a big factor — not a problem but ever present nonetheless — but I seriously underestimated the effect that juggling kids and work would have on my ability to a) concentrate and b) get something done. Oliver’s daytime sleep “problem” has been particularly damaging to my estimated timelines! Thankfully, everyone I’ve worked with (or am working with) has been fantastic & supportive. I can only hope that this continues, and that I can use this knowledge to create more realistic schedule in the future.

Posted on: December 4, 2012 · Category: Work 9

Time Management

One of my big worries about working from home is the discipline required to achieve everything I need to do with the numerous distractions at home.

While Oliver is small and sleeps or feeds most of the day, I have three full days for coding where Isabel is at nursery. I also have my evenings, although I like to get to bed for a sensible hour. This feels like a decent amount of time but compared to the distraction-free run of days at your standard 9—5 I feel like I’m already against the clock.

I’ve been using FreshBooks to track project times:

…which is helping to ensure I’m tracking time for client projects, and meeting my expectations/guestimations for project time length (so that I don’t under-charge). This doesn’t help with general time allocation though; it doesn’t stop me from spending 15 minutes of an hour tweeting when I could (should) be working which for a full days coding, putting me at a deficit of 2 hours or more!

I’m trialling Evernote to keep track of my notes and to do lists (which I used to use at work to keep me on track) but I don’t want to put myself in a position where I’m spending more time managing myself than I am just getting on with stuff.

So what’s a girl to do?

Posted on: August 18, 2012 · Category: Work 6

Epic Life-changing News

I recently made a decision which will almost certainly change the course of my life forever.

I quit my job.

It wasn’t in my long term plan — with 2 kids I’d previously dismissed working for myself as impractical and risky — but thanks to the government arsing about with tax credits I realised that post-maternity leave I’d be working 4 days a week for less than £200 a month minus childcare costs. It doesn’t matter how much I love(d) my job, I don’t love it enough to do it for little more than a fiver a day. Sod that.

So what am I going to do now?

I’ve registered as self-employed with HMRC and have stuck up a very basic “I’m cool, hire me” site on my named URL to bring in some PHP/WordPress/dev work.

I’ve been putting time into my niche blogs (the natural baby and we ♥ geek t-shirts) to bring in a couple of quid advertising … eventually(!)

I’m also taking the opportunity to pursue paid writing opportunities for other companies/pro bloggers, although don’t know if this will come to anything yet. Just because you crazy folk read the crap I stick on here doesn’t mean the public at large would give two hoots for my opinion on things!

Lastly, in my search for information on making the transition from working for someone else to working from home and the complicated world of tax, benefits etc that comes along with that I’d discovered a bit of a hole in the market (so to speak) so will also shortly be launching a site & community for UK work at home mums.

Fingers in many pies and all that.

This has the possibility to be the best work-related decision I’ve ever made or the end to what little savings I have. Let’s hope it’s that first one, eh?

Posted on: July 31, 2012 · Category: Work 22

SAHM, WAHM, WOHM, what?

Cherie Blair, the wife of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, has pissed a lot of mums off this week by criticising stay at home mums (SAHMs); apparently they’re all “yummy mummies” who’ve married rich men so they don’t have to go to work. It’s making women “too dependent”, wasting their education, etc etc.

I wanted to stay at home after I had Isabel but unfortunately we weren’t in a financial position for me to do so: I had no choice but to return to work. Having done so, I remembered how much I liked working and, thankfully, Isabel gets a lot out of nursery (daycare). I am not entirely sure what the future holds for post-maternity leave with Oliver — because I’m trying to balance wanting more time with the kids (thus reduced hours) with a reduced income, increased overall costs, childcare etc — but I do know that whatever happens I will still be working.

So now we know that I don’t see this from the point of view of a bitter, defensive housewife (homemaker, whatever is the PC term these days) pissed at her judgement on me… I think she’s full of crap.

Personally, I am of the opinion SAHMs are brave, brave women. Looking after kids is surprisingly exhausting. Even before they’re old enough to make verbal (spoken) demands on your attention every minute of every hour, just being emotionally and physically available to even the tiniest baby requires constant draw on the energy levels. Shit, I struggle being emotionally available to Karl 24/7 and he’s a responsible adult who’s capable of looking after himself. Suffice it to say I can easily respect women who stay at home with their kids. I don’t know if I could.

So, this yummy mummy, living the easy life on Daddy’s pay packet, sipping cappuccino at Starbucks, shopping in Boden while hard-working women like Cherie set an example for their children shit? Bollocks. Even if we ignore the hordes of mums who have no choice but to stay at home because the cost of childcare is so high that working would actually put them in debt, the mums who’ve sacrificed their career because they’re the lower of two earners in the household (thanks to an ever-present glass ceiling that gets in the way of so many women) … there’s still the small matter of where these mums would put their kids if they went back to work. Childcare, childminders, nannies? But if looking after children is so worthless, why do these occupations — often paid minimum wage, not exactly an inspiration for the next generation — differ? Or is it only raising your own kids full time that’s worthy of derision?

Anyway, I digress… this is supposedly about dependency. Are these women depending on the salary of a man who might not always be around? No more so than I am as a working mother. Oh, I have my own savings but I’d still be up shit creek if Karl left (or died) tomorrow. I’d get about 6 months out of my savings and then what? Work? With childcare costs of £30+ per day per child, I’d have to make £60 per day just to break even; that doesn’t factor in mortgage costs, house insurance, travel, council tax, utilities, food, clothes… the list goes on.

The reality is that life isn’t as simple as “choose to stay home” or “choose to work” as Ms Blair makes out. Guess it’s easy to forget that on a QC’s salary though.

Posted on: June 21, 2012 · Category: Parenting, Work 14