Today, as I was sat in Dublin, tired and waiting for my evening flight home I was kicking myself. Yet again I’d put something else before my own well being and where had it landed me? Well, not in a place I wanted to be.
When I booked my flights to Dublin I didn’t know what my commitments would be freelance wise. I didn’t know if I’d have to work, project wise, and as a result to make it easier for the companies I would be working with I booked an early flight out to Dublin on Tuesday morning and a late evening flight back to London on Friday evening. Just in case. That way I’d have two full working days and wouldn’t risk loosing any work or compromising any potential deliveries for the companies. Boy was I regretting that today. As it turned out one of my contracts was supposed to end before I left anyway and the other one was fine with me being off for two weeks. So in fact I was off and I was spending my early Friday evening over at Dublin airport in enormous security queues and then on a late arriving flight into London.
Friday night is not a night you want to be spending travelling. Tuesday morning, two days after coming back from New York less than 48 hours before is also not a time you want to be travelling. My decision to book those two flights was based on “what ifs”. When you freelance you’re not always sure when the next project is coming or how long it will last for. Being unavailable can mean that you loose out on work simply as timelines don’t fit. That’s what I was trying to guard myself against but those “what ifs” was leaving things too much in the hands of others. I was simply being too considerate to the companies I would work for rather than looking after myself and what I knew would be, i.e. one too early and one too late flight. And if it’s one thing this summer thought me, or so I thought, it’s to start looking after myself and my needs a bit more and not always going the extra mile. Sometimes we’re better off narrowing things down in terms of when we’re available and not. And often we’ll also find that no one is expecting us to walk that many extra miles and that if you ask, a flexible arrangement for a day or two is not going to be a problem as long as the work is done.
Tomorrow – Day 294 | Getting what you wish for
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/mag3737/6105124740
