It’s planting season around here! This weekend, my husband will start about 200 onion seeds. Meanwhile, safely tucked under some row cover are 50 garlic bulbs just doing their thing (although they were planted last fall). In the next few weeks, we will establish our “grow operation” by the fireplace room sliding glass doors complete with heat maps, lights and literally 400-500 plants including tomatoes, seed potatoes, peppers, onions, beans, zucchini and more than a few herbs. While the somewhat makeshift grow operation is a bit unsightly, with wires going everywhere and a strange purplish glow around the house, it’s a sure sign of good weather to come. So, it may be ugly but it strikes joy in my heart.
On the professional side, one week into my new business and I nearly hit my weekly billable target. Since I really didn’t anticipate doing so well – I figured I’d be around 50% of my target – I’m celebrating my fast-ish start. It’s affirming to think that what I thought was a reasonable business concept actually bears fruit.
And so, on this Friday morning of my first week working for myself, it feels like there is new growth and spring is abounding everywhere. After three very cold (and somewhat snowy) days, we are back above freezing today, the last of the snow should melt off and early next week it appears that spring reliably returns with days in the 50s. While I would love the temperature to reliably get into the 60s, I’m going to have to take what I can get for now. That’s the thing about all of these new signs of life – both environmentally and professionally – it’s small steps at first and that’s okay. I’m not looking for large leaps forward but instead prefer these incremental, manageable steps.
However, I have to say the reality of my new life is also beginning to slowly sink in. On Monday and Tuesday, it wasn’t all that much different, honestly, as I was finishing up work for my firm. But, on Wednesday afternoon, the tide turned and it became about my new work vs. my old. So, here’s what I’ve observed so far:
- It is freeing. At my old firm, if I didn’t have client work to do, I still felt guilty if I wasn’t sitting at my desk trying to work. So, I would sit there and waste hours of free time only to be frustrated that I was still working above my target. But someone somewhere had told me that the firm generally expects people to be available during business hours. So, I took that too much to heart. Now, if I don’t have client work, I am able to enjoy my work-free time guilt-free as well.
- I didn’t rock the whole housework thing this week. So, I thought all of this newfound work-free time was going to mean a spotless house and gourmet meals this week. Umm, it didn’t happen. I’m not saying it won’t get a little better in the future, but after a weekend where we worked 10-hour days on our house and the hangover of the final firm-related work this week, my head just wasn’t in it. I think I really need a few more weeks to let my new reality sink in and I’ll adjust better.
- The work is a lot of the same. Honestly, I’m a one-trick pony. I have one true field where I am an expert so switching from working to a firm to working for myself was a switch in employers, it was not a switch in work. The work feels familiar and that’s both good and bad. The good is that I feel confident and competent. The bad is that there isn’t anything really exciting or new to look forward to.
- There is still a lot of organizing to do. I ordered my new computer on Wednesday and I’ve found a new printer that I like fairly well. I did set up my own Teams account but I still need to set up Docusign and Sharepoint. I also have to set up a solo 401K account and talk to our tax preparer for quarterly taxes. So, there is “stuff” I’ve got to get in place and I’d like to do a lot of it while work is slower. However, there is a good chance that very quickly, work will get to a point where it may be a bit overwhelming for a short period of time. That’s okay, too. If I get the opportunity, I’m going to make hay while the sun shines and fit the other things in as I can.
- My timing may have been perfect. While I thought about quitting and working for myself for some time, the entire concept came together pretty quickly in early February. But, it was a leap to quit on Valentine’s Day with a few unknowns out there. Still, it was a calculated leap and I’m glad I did it. I’m waiting on a federal grant opportunity announcement to really launch my business. When I quit, it was anticipated to have been announced mid-February and I knew that I was relying on at least a four-week delay for my plan to work. It turns out that it will likely be about a six-week delay and that’s okay with me. That times perfectly to give me this week as a wind down and next week as a “gear up” week. In this case, I could have gotten really lucky and I’m super grateful for it.
- I’m still waiting for life to even itself out. Quitting while we still have a major renovation project going on was bound to be only a partial relief. In the end, it will take the floors and doors being installed before I’ll get to see what my new life really looks like. But, I do see glimpses of what it will be. Yet, it’s also kind of nice to know that there are still good things out there yet to happen. Maybe it’s not the total relief I was looking for on day one, but there is much to look forward to.
So, that’s it. End of week one and there are some key observations made and more things to still figure out. But, I’m doing it. And if that’s the best I can say, well, that’s okay. I’m playing the long-game here and I have a quiet sense that everything is going to be just fine.
The Yuppie Homesteader 