#freelancing — Public Fediverse posts

⏱️ solidtime-io/solidtime

Modern open-source time-tracking app

Tracks time for freelancers and agencies with project/task management, billable rates, multi-org support and imports from Toggl/Clockify/CSV

⭐ Stars: 8579
📅 Last Update: May 22, 2026

https://github.com/solidtime-io/solidtime

#selfhosted #homelab #selfhost #selfhosting #opensource #timetracking #freelancing

⏱️ solidtime-io/solidtime

Modern open-source time-tracking app

Tracks time for freelancers and agencies with project/task management, billable rates, multi-org support and imports from Toggl/Clockify/CSV

⭐ Stars: 8579
📅 Last Update: May 22, 2026

https://github.com/solidtime-io/solidtime

#selfhosted #homelab #selfhost #selfhosting #opensource #timetracking #freelancing

Don't let the #facists win - please help me save my mom and finally be able to be self employed and do #freelancing full-time

We could cover the Hotel if

5 People send $89
10 People send $45
15 People send $30
20 People send $22
50 People send $9
100 People send $4
447 People send $1

Hotel Hell has #evicted us and I'm running out of time to save all my equipment and belongings and secure the new space

https://ko-fi.com/sabilewsounds/goal

#MutualAidRequest #SabiLewSounds #ALT4me

Start with curiosity and a laptop.

Learn digital skills, freelancing, business, marketing & more — anytime, anywhere.
Your future can start with one course.

courseplus.co.uk

#CoursePlus #OnlineLearning #DigitalSkills #Freelancing #CareerGrowth #LearnOnline

"I speak to a lot of different #clients every week, and they almost always have the same complaints about working with freelancers. Many of them have been burned before, and I’m always amazed at what they tell me their previous freelancers did or when they compliment me just because I met a basic deadline and answered their emails!"

https://amberweinberg.com/why-clients-dont-want-to-work-with-you-anymore/

#freelance #freelancing #business #frontend #webdev

"I speak to a lot of different #clients every week, and they almost always have the same complaints about working with freelancers. Many of them have been burned before, and I’m always amazed at what they tell me their previous freelancers did or when they compliment me just because I met a basic deadline and answered their emails!"

https://amberweinberg.com/why-clients-dont-want-to-work-with-you-anymore/

#freelance #freelancing #business #frontend #webdev

"I speak to a lot of different #clients every week, and they almost always have the same complaints about working with freelancers. Many of them have been burned before, and I’m always amazed at what they tell me their previous freelancers did or when they compliment me just because I met a basic deadline and answered their emails!"

https://amberweinberg.com/why-clients-dont-want-to-work-with-you-anymore/

#freelance #freelancing #business #frontend #webdev

"I speak to a lot of different #clients every week, and they almost always have the same complaints about working with freelancers. Many of them have been burned before, and I’m always amazed at what they tell me their previous freelancers did or when they compliment me just because I met a basic deadline and answered their emails!"

https://amberweinberg.com/why-clients-dont-want-to-work-with-you-anymore/

#freelance #freelancing #business #frontend #webdev

Greetings people of the #Fediverse

I wanted to share that my #commissions are now OPEN!!

Please let me know how I can be of service as a disabled Multidisciplinary Artist who has been creating her whole life and other services that aren't in creative field with over 20yrs in experience with administrative work including record keeping, data entry, light bookkeeping and customer service

#freelancing #fempreneur #FediArt #FediMusic

Greetings people of the #Fediverse

I wanted to share that my #commissions are now OPEN!!

Please let me know how I can be of service as a disabled Multidisciplinary Artist who has been creating her whole life and other services that aren't in creative field with over 20yrs in experience with administrative work including record keeping, data entry, light bookkeeping and customer service

#freelancing #fempreneur #FediArt #FediMusic

Greetings people of the #Fediverse

I wanted to share that my #commissions are now OPEN!!

Please let me know how I can be of service as a disabled Multidisciplinary Artist who has been creating her whole life and other services that aren't in creative field with over 20yrs in experience with administrative work including record keeping, data entry, light bookkeeping and customer service

#freelancing #fempreneur #FediArt #FediMusic

Greetings people of the #Fediverse

I wanted to share that my #commissions are now OPEN!!

Please let me know how I can be of service as a disabled Multidisciplinary Artist who has been creating her whole life and other services that aren't in creative field with over 20yrs in experience with administrative work including record keeping, data entry, light bookkeeping and customer service

#freelancing #fempreneur #FediArt #FediMusic

Greetings people of the #Fediverse

I wanted to share that my #commissions are now OPEN!!

Please let me know how I can be of service as a disabled Multidisciplinary Artist who has been creating her whole life and other services that aren't in creative field with over 20yrs in experience with administrative work including record keeping, data entry, light bookkeeping and customer service

#freelancing #fempreneur #FediArt #FediMusic

Google just hijacked 4GB of local storage. Here is the workflow to execute a permanent block. 🛑👇

Chrome is quietly downloading its Gemini Nano AI model directly to your operating system.

No opt-in prompt. No notification. Just a massive 4.3GB hidden file named weights.bin sitting inside your hidden system folders.

Why? By executing AI natively on your machine, Google offloads their massive server and energy costs directly onto your hardware. Your personal machine is effectively operating as a free compute node in their ecosystem.

If you just delete the folder, Chrome will download it again automatically. You must execute a multi-layered block.

We just published the exact technical workflow to locate the hidden directory, kill the optimization flags, and block Google from pushing the payload via enterprise policies.

Here is the precise workflow to locate the hidden directory and permanently execute a system block: https://digiglitch.net/exon ⚡

#AIWorkflows #Cybersecurity #TechNews #ProductivityHacks #GoogleChrome #SaaS #Freelancing #FutureTech #DigitalWorkflows #AI

Google just hijacked 4GB of local storage. Here is the workflow to execute a permanent block. 🛑👇

Chrome is quietly downloading its Gemini Nano AI model directly to your operating system.

No opt-in prompt. No notification. Just a massive 4.3GB hidden file named weights.bin sitting inside your hidden system folders.

Why? By executing AI natively on your machine, Google offloads their massive server and energy costs directly onto your hardware. Your personal machine is effectively operating as a free compute node in their ecosystem.

If you just delete the folder, Chrome will download it again automatically. You must execute a multi-layered block.

We just published the exact technical workflow to locate the hidden directory, kill the optimization flags, and block Google from pushing the payload via enterprise policies.

Here is the precise workflow to locate the hidden directory and permanently execute a system block: https://digiglitch.net/exon ⚡

#AIWorkflows #Cybersecurity #TechNews #ProductivityHacks #GoogleChrome #SaaS #Freelancing #FutureTech #DigitalWorkflows #AI

Google just hijacked 4GB of local storage. Here is the workflow to execute a permanent block. 🛑👇

Chrome is quietly downloading its Gemini Nano AI model directly to your operating system.

No opt-in prompt. No notification. Just a massive 4.3GB hidden file named weights.bin sitting inside your hidden system folders.

Why? By executing AI natively on your machine, Google offloads their massive server and energy costs directly onto your hardware. Your personal machine is effectively operating as a free compute node in their ecosystem.

If you just delete the folder, Chrome will download it again automatically. You must execute a multi-layered block.

We just published the exact technical workflow to locate the hidden directory, kill the optimization flags, and block Google from pushing the payload via enterprise policies.

Here is the precise workflow to locate the hidden directory and permanently execute a system block: https://digiglitch.net/exon ⚡

#AIWorkflows #Cybersecurity #TechNews #ProductivityHacks #GoogleChrome #SaaS #Freelancing #FutureTech #DigitalWorkflows #AI

Google just hijacked 4GB of local storage. Here is the workflow to execute a permanent block. 🛑👇

Chrome is quietly downloading its Gemini Nano AI model directly to your operating system.

No opt-in prompt. No notification. Just a massive 4.3GB hidden file named weights.bin sitting inside your hidden system folders.

Why? By executing AI natively on your machine, Google offloads their massive server and energy costs directly onto your hardware. Your personal machine is effectively operating as a free compute node in their ecosystem.

If you just delete the folder, Chrome will download it again automatically. You must execute a multi-layered block.

We just published the exact technical workflow to locate the hidden directory, kill the optimization flags, and block Google from pushing the payload via enterprise policies.

Here is the precise workflow to locate the hidden directory and permanently execute a system block: https://digiglitch.net/exon ⚡

#AIWorkflows #Cybersecurity #TechNews #ProductivityHacks #GoogleChrome #SaaS #Freelancing #FutureTech #DigitalWorkflows #AI

Google just hijacked 4GB of local storage. Here is the workflow to execute a permanent block. 🛑👇

Chrome is quietly downloading its Gemini Nano AI model directly to your operating system.

No opt-in prompt. No notification. Just a massive 4.3GB hidden file named weights.bin sitting inside your hidden system folders.

Why? By executing AI natively on your machine, Google offloads their massive server and energy costs directly onto your hardware. Your personal machine is effectively operating as a free compute node in their ecosystem.

If you just delete the folder, Chrome will download it again automatically. You must execute a multi-layered block.

We just published the exact technical workflow to locate the hidden directory, kill the optimization flags, and block Google from pushing the payload via enterprise policies.

Here is the precise workflow to locate the hidden directory and permanently execute a system block: https://digiglitch.net/exon ⚡

#AIWorkflows #Cybersecurity #TechNews #ProductivityHacks #GoogleChrome #SaaS #Freelancing #FutureTech #DigitalWorkflows #AI

How to earn your first $100 online without investment. 💰
👉 Learn how: https: https://alltopic2026.blogspot.com/2026/05/access-your-reward-body-margin-0.html

#earning #onlineincome #success #freelancing #makemoney #investmentfree #studentsidehustle #wealth #income #remotework

Thinking about finding an online job in 2026? It’s actually not as scary as you might think, but...

🔗 https://social.talkbitz.com/0to8j

#freelancing #onlinebusiness

Thinking about finding an online job in 2026? It’s actually not as scary as you might think, but...

🔗 https://social.talkbitz.com/0to8j

#freelancing #onlinebusiness

Most "passive income" for professionals is just active income with extra steps and a nicer name. Licensing your expertise or creating a scalable product can work, but it usually requires intense upfront effort and ongoing maintenance. The dream of money with zero work is selling more books than it is reality. #freelancing #personalfinance #careers

Most "passive income" for professionals is just active income with extra steps and a nicer name. Licensing your expertise or creating a scalable product can work, but it usually requires intense upfront effort and ongoing maintenance. The dream of money with zero work is selling more books than it is reality. #freelancing #personalfinance #careers

Most "passive income" for professionals is just active income with extra steps and a nicer name. Licensing your expertise or creating a scalable product can work, but it usually requires intense upfront effort and ongoing maintenance. The dream of money with zero work is selling more books than it is reality. #freelancing #personalfinance #careers

WFH hits different when your setup is actually good 🐱💻

Read more: https://flip.it/F8vFEf

#lifestyle #remotework #digitalnomad #remotejob #freelancing #makemoney #digitalnomadlife #digitalnomads #onlinejob #wanderlust

Why your side hustle isn't working and what to do instead 💸🎯

Read more: https://flip.it/7gRJOY

#lifestyle #work #parttimejob #sidehustle #sideincome #remotework #freelancing #freelancer

Your digital nomad life in Australia starts with a free visa! 🌏💻🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/ojiKCT

#travel #remotework #digitalnomad #expat #expatlife #oceania #australia #freelancing #movingabroad #wanderlust

Your digital nomad life in Australia starts with a free visa! 🌏💻🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/ojiKCT

#travel #remotework #digitalnomad #expat #expatlife #oceania #australia #freelancing #movingabroad #wanderlust

Your digital nomad life in Australia starts with a free visa! 🌏💻🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/ojiKCT

#travel #remotework #digitalnomad #expat #expatlife #oceania #australia #freelancing #movingabroad #wanderlust

Your digital nomad life in Australia starts with a free visa! 🌏💻🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/ojiKCT

#travel #remotework #digitalnomad #expat #expatlife #oceania #australia #freelancing #movingabroad #wanderlust

Your digital nomad life in Australia starts with a free visa! 🌏💻🦘

Read more: https://flip.it/ojiKCT

#travel #remotework #digitalnomad #expat #expatlife #oceania #australia #freelancing #movingabroad #wanderlust

Tomorrow we're having a meet up for #freelancing web folk - developers, designers, copywriters, sysadmins, project managers etc. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton from 8pm - 11. Come along whenever you can for great chat.

Last week 11 freelancers came, you can see what we talked about here - https://www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting-notes-20260422/ - and there's some extra info about dealing with overpayments from clients.

Here's a map to the pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kxhkTHn2w1qDBaX8

#brighton #event

Tomorrow we're having a meet up for #freelancing web folk - developers, designers, copywriters, sysadmins, project managers etc. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton from 8pm - 11. Come along whenever you can for great chat.

Last week 11 freelancers came, you can see what we talked about here - https://www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting-notes-20260422/ - and there's some extra info about dealing with overpayments from clients.

Here's a map to the pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kxhkTHn2w1qDBaX8

#brighton #event

Tomorrow we're having a meet up for #freelancing web folk - developers, designers, copywriters, sysadmins, project managers etc. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton from 8pm - 11. Come along whenever you can for great chat.

Last week 11 freelancers came, you can see what we talked about here - https://www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting-notes-20260422/ - and there's some extra info about dealing with overpayments from clients.

Here's a map to the pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kxhkTHn2w1qDBaX8

#brighton #event

Tomorrow we're having a meet up for #freelancing web folk - developers, designers, copywriters, sysadmins, project managers etc. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton from 8pm - 11. Come along whenever you can for great chat.

Last week 11 freelancers came, you can see what we talked about here - https://www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting-notes-20260422/ - and there's some extra info about dealing with overpayments from clients.

Here's a map to the pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kxhkTHn2w1qDBaX8

#brighton #event

Tomorrow we're having a meet up for #freelancing web folk - developers, designers, copywriters, sysadmins, project managers etc. We'll be in the Battle of Trafalgar in Brighton from 8pm - 11. Come along whenever you can for great chat.

Last week 11 freelancers came, you can see what we talked about here - https://www.brightonfarm.com/2026/meeting-notes-20260422/ - and there's some extra info about dealing with overpayments from clients.

Here's a map to the pub: https://maps.app.goo.gl/7kxhkTHn2w1qDBaX8

#brighton #event

15 years of evading cubicle capture

April of 2011 presented me with an opportunity disguised as the dismantling of a job I’d had under various titles for more than 17 years: a chance to pick up the work I loved without owing anything to how I’d done it at the Washington Post.

But when I woke up on April 18, my first workday without a desk to my name at 15th and L, and proceeded to file one last uncomplicated tax return, I didn’t realize that I was starting this occupational reboot with a cheat code enabled.

At least then, writing a personal-tech column for a major American newspaper for more than a decade and then getting unexpectedly kicked to the curb proved to be the best #OpenToWork ad I could hope to run.

After getting enough unsolicited inquiries about writing for places on a contract basis instead of as an employee, I decided to try self-employment for at least a while instead of holding out for a full-time job that might return me to cubicle life.

And now I’ve somehow made it 15 years without my work having a single point of failure. No one boss has been able to put me out of business, and no one editor has been able to quash my hopes of writing about any one thing.

That’s left my own decision-making as the one ongoing risk, and I can think of so many ways that has failed me. The worst have been the times, more than once, that I assumed having one anchor client make up the vast majority of my income would be a quasi-permanent situation.

The lesser ones have been my failures to sell stories that should have been easy to land somewhere. It’s weird how I can remember, with painful precision, individual story ideas that I should have turned into money–including the dollar amounts I could have put on each invoice–but instead fumbled away for one stupid reason or another.

My income has varied more than I would have expected; 2012 was my best year, with the help of two clients paying above-market rates that they later thought better of, and then eight years later I finished 2020 with a bit over half that take as the pandemic beat down my fortunes and led me to accept some dismal worst per-word rates.

(It helps, so much, that my wife has a real job with things like a predictable salary and health insurance.)

Battling through 2020 and into 2021 meant more than I realized at the time; one of the best things that self-employment has taught me is resilience.

It’s fair to say that I haven’t optimized my freelance work for personal wealth, not that any journalist makes that choice when they pick this profession. But I think I have optimized it for flexibility, both in the sense of how I’ve been able to write about things outside the mainstream of consumer-tech coverage (space foremost among them) and in how I’ve been able to make money (getting paid to speak remains something I should get better at).

I have definitely optimized my work for taking me to interesting parts of the world.

And because I enjoy my work, I think I’ve done a decent job of optimizing my work for fun. The New York Times’ late, great media reporter David Carr used to describe journalism as a caper that you hope to get away with for as long as you can, and I keep being reminded of how right he was about that.

The past few years have lent one other perspective on my self-employed existence: the sight of so many friends with staff jobs losing those theoretically more secure positions. This February, that happened to about half of the newsroom of the Washington Post–including most of the tech reporters there.

Somehow, despite regular reminders that maybe I don’t quite know what I’m doing, I carry on accumulating clients and 1099 tax forms. And if I can get away with this caper for another two and a half years, I will have spent more time working for myself than for any one company. That will be weird, but maybe not much more stranger than my entire career path so far.

15 years of evading cubicle capture

April of 2011 presented me with an opportunity disguised as the dismantling of a job I’d had under various titles for more than 17 years: a chance to pick up the work I loved without owing anything to how I’d done it at the Washington Post.

But when I woke up on April 18, my first workday without a desk to my name at 15th and L, and proceeded to file one last uncomplicated tax return, I didn’t realize that I was starting this occupational reboot with a cheat code enabled.

At least then, writing a personal-tech column for a major American newspaper for more than a decade and then getting unexpectedly kicked to the curb proved to be the best #OpenToWork ad I could hope to run.

After getting enough unsolicited inquiries about writing for places on a contract basis instead of as an employee, I decided to try self-employment for at least a while instead of holding out for a full-time job that might return me to cubicle life.

And now I’ve somehow made it 15 years without my work having a single point of failure. No one boss has been able to put me out of business, and no one editor has been able to quash my hopes of writing about any one thing.

That’s left my own decision-making as the one ongoing risk, and I can think of so many ways that has failed me. The worst have been the times, more than once, that I assumed having one anchor client make up the vast majority of my income would be a quasi-permanent situation.

The lesser ones have been my failures to sell stories that should have been easy to land somewhere. It’s weird how I can remember, with painful precision, individual story ideas that I should have turned into money–including the dollar amounts I could have put on each invoice–but instead fumbled away for one stupid reason or another.

My income has varied more than I would have expected; 2012 was my best year, with the help of two clients paying above-market rates that they later thought better of, and then eight years later I finished 2020 with a bit over half that take as the pandemic beat down my fortunes and led me to accept some dismal worst per-word rates.

(It helps, so much, that my wife has a real job with things like a predictable salary and health insurance.)

Battling through 2020 and into 2021 meant more than I realized at the time; one of the best things that self-employment has taught me is resilience.

It’s fair to say that I haven’t optimized my freelance work for personal wealth, not that any journalist makes that choice when they pick this profession. But I think I have optimized it for flexibility, both in the sense of how I’ve been able to write about things outside the mainstream of consumer-tech coverage (space foremost among them) and in how I’ve been able to make money (getting paid to speak remains something I should get better at).

I have definitely optimized my work for taking me to interesting parts of the world.

And because I enjoy my work, I think I’ve done a decent job of optimizing my work for fun. The New York Times’ late, great media reporter David Carr used to describe journalism as a caper that you hope to get away with for as long as you can, and I keep being reminded of how right he was about that.

The past few years have lent one other perspective on my self-employed existence: the sight of so many friends with staff jobs losing those theoretically more secure positions. This February, that happened to about half of the newsroom of the Washington Post–including most of the tech reporters there.

Somehow, despite regular reminders that maybe I don’t quite know what I’m doing, I carry on accumulating clients and 1099 tax forms. And if I can get away with this caper for another two and a half years, I will have spent more time working for myself than for any one company. That will be weird, but maybe not much more stranger than my entire career path so far.

15 years of evading cubicle capture

April of 2011 presented me with an opportunity disguised as the dismantling of a job I’d had under various titles for more than 17 years: a chance to pick up the work I loved without owing anything to how I’d done it at the Washington Post.

But when I woke up on April 18, my first workday without a desk to my name at 15th and L, and proceeded to file one last uncomplicated tax return, I didn’t realize that I was starting this occupational reboot with a cheat code enabled.

At least then, writing a personal-tech column for a major American newspaper for more than a decade and then getting unexpectedly kicked to the curb proved to be the best #OpenToWork ad I could hope to run.

After getting enough unsolicited inquiries about writing for places on a contract basis instead of as an employee, I decided to try self-employment for at least a while instead of holding out for a full-time job that might return me to cubicle life.

And now I’ve somehow made it 15 years without my work having a single point of failure. No one boss has been able to put me out of business, and no one editor has been able to quash my hopes of writing about any one thing.

That’s left my own decision-making as the one ongoing risk, and I can think of so many ways that has failed me. The worst have been the times, more than once, that I assumed having one anchor client make up the vast majority of my income would be a quasi-permanent situation.

The lesser ones have been my failures to sell stories that should have been easy to land somewhere. It’s weird how I can remember, with painful precision, individual story ideas that I should have turned into money–including the dollar amounts I could have put on each invoice–but instead fumbled away for one stupid reason or another.

My income has varied more than I would have expected; 2012 was my best year, with the help of two clients paying above-market rates that they later thought better of, and then eight years later I finished 2020 with a bit over half that take as the pandemic beat down my fortunes and led me to accept some dismal worst per-word rates.

(It helps, so much, that my wife has a real job with things like a predictable salary and health insurance.)

Battling through 2020 and into 2021 meant more than I realized at the time; one of the best things that self-employment has taught me is resilience.

It’s fair to say that I haven’t optimized my freelance work for personal wealth, not that any journalist makes that choice when they pick this profession. But I think I have optimized it for flexibility, both in the sense of how I’ve been able to write about things outside the mainstream of consumer-tech coverage (space foremost among them) and in how I’ve been able to make money (getting paid to speak remains something I should get better at).

I have definitely optimized my work for taking me to interesting parts of the world.

And because I enjoy my work, I think I’ve done a decent job of optimizing my work for fun. The New York Times’ late, great media reporter David Carr used to describe journalism as a caper that you hope to get away with for as long as you can, and I keep being reminded of how right he was about that.

The past few years have lent one other perspective on my self-employed existence: the sight of so many friends with staff jobs losing those theoretically more secure positions. This February, that happened to about half of the newsroom of the Washington Post–including most of the tech reporters there.

Somehow, despite regular reminders that maybe I don’t quite know what I’m doing, I carry on accumulating clients and 1099 tax forms. And if I can get away with this caper for another two and a half years, I will have spent more time working for myself than for any one company. That will be weird, but maybe not much more stranger than my entire career path so far.

15 years of evading cubicle capture

April of 2011 presented me with an opportunity disguised as the dismantling of a job I’d had under various titles for more than 17 years: a chance to pick up the work I loved without owing anything to how I’d done it at the Washington Post.

But when I woke up on April 18, my first workday without a desk to my name at 15th and L, and proceeded to file one last uncomplicated tax return, I didn’t realize that I was starting this occupational reboot with a cheat code enabled.

At least then, writing a personal-tech column for a major American newspaper for more than a decade and then getting unexpectedly kicked to the curb proved to be the best #OpenToWork ad I could hope to run.

After getting enough unsolicited inquiries about writing for places on a contract basis instead of as an employee, I decided to try self-employment for at least a while instead of holding out for a full-time job that might return me to cubicle life.

And now I’ve somehow made it 15 years without my work having a single point of failure. No one boss has been able to put me out of business, and no one editor has been able to quash my hopes of writing about any one thing.

That’s left my own decision-making as the one ongoing risk, and I can think of so many ways that has failed me. The worst have been the times, more than once, that I assumed having one anchor client make up the vast majority of my income would be a quasi-permanent situation.

The lesser ones have been my failures to sell stories that should have been easy to land somewhere. It’s weird how I can remember, with painful precision, individual story ideas that I should have turned into money–including the dollar amounts I could have put on each invoice–but instead fumbled away for one stupid reason or another.

My income has varied more than I would have expected; 2012 was my best year, with the help of two clients paying above-market rates that they later thought better of, and then eight years later I finished 2020 with a bit over half that take as the pandemic beat down my fortunes and led me to accept some dismal worst per-word rates.

(It helps, so much, that my wife has a real job with things like a predictable salary and health insurance.)

Battling through 2020 and into 2021 meant more than I realized at the time; one of the best things that self-employment has taught me is resilience.

It’s fair to say that I haven’t optimized my freelance work for personal wealth, not that any journalist makes that choice when they pick this profession. But I think I have optimized it for flexibility, both in the sense of how I’ve been able to write about things outside the mainstream of consumer-tech coverage (space foremost among them) and in how I’ve been able to make money (getting paid to speak remains something I should get better at).

I have definitely optimized my work for taking me to interesting parts of the world.

And because I enjoy my work, I think I’ve done a decent job of optimizing my work for fun. The New York Times’ late, great media reporter David Carr used to describe journalism as a caper that you hope to get away with for as long as you can, and I keep being reminded of how right he was about that.

The past few years have lent one other perspective on my self-employed existence: the sight of so many friends with staff jobs losing those theoretically more secure positions. This February, that happened to about half of the newsroom of the Washington Post–including most of the tech reporters there.

Somehow, despite regular reminders that maybe I don’t quite know what I’m doing, I carry on accumulating clients and 1099 tax forms. And if I can get away with this caper for another two and a half years, I will have spent more time working for myself than for any one company. That will be weird, but maybe not much more stranger than my entire career path so far.

15 years of evading cubicle capture

April of 2011 presented me with an opportunity disguised as the dismantling of a job I’d had under various titles for more than 17 years: a chance to pick up the work I loved without owing anything to how I’d done it at the Washington Post.

But when I woke up on April 18, my first workday without a desk to my name at 15th and L, and proceeded to file one last uncomplicated tax return, I didn’t realize that I was starting this occupational reboot with a cheat code enabled.

At least then, writing a personal-tech column for a major American newspaper for more than a decade and then getting unexpectedly kicked to the curb proved to be the best #OpenToWork ad I could hope to run.

After getting enough unsolicited inquiries about writing for places on a contract basis instead of as an employee, I decided to try self-employment for at least a while instead of holding out for a full-time job that might return me to cubicle life.

And now I’ve somehow made it 15 years without my work having a single point of failure. No one boss has been able to put me out of business, and no one editor has been able to quash my hopes of writing about any one thing.

That’s left my own decision-making as the one ongoing risk, and I can think of so many ways that has failed me. The worst have been the times, more than once, that I assumed having one anchor client make up the vast majority of my income would be a quasi-permanent situation.

The lesser ones have been my failures to sell stories that should have been easy to land somewhere. It’s weird how I can remember, with painful precision, individual story ideas that I should have turned into money–including the dollar amounts I could have put on each invoice–but instead fumbled away for one stupid reason or another.

My income has varied more than I would have expected; 2012 was my best year, with the help of two clients paying above-market rates that they later thought better of, and then eight years later I finished 2020 with a bit over half that take as the pandemic beat down my fortunes and led me to accept some dismal worst per-word rates.

(It helps, so much, that my wife has a real job with things like a predictable salary and health insurance.)

Battling through 2020 and into 2021 meant more than I realized at the time; one of the best things that self-employment has taught me is resilience.

It’s fair to say that I haven’t optimized my freelance work for personal wealth, not that any journalist makes that choice when they pick this profession. But I think I have optimized it for flexibility, both in the sense of how I’ve been able to write about things outside the mainstream of consumer-tech coverage (space foremost among them) and in how I’ve been able to make money (getting paid to speak remains something I should get better at).

I have definitely optimized my work for taking me to interesting parts of the world.

And because I enjoy my work, I think I’ve done a decent job of optimizing my work for fun. The New York Times’ late, great media reporter David Carr used to describe journalism as a caper that you hope to get away with for as long as you can, and I keep being reminded of how right he was about that.

The past few years have lent one other perspective on my self-employed existence: the sight of so many friends with staff jobs losing those theoretically more secure positions. This February, that happened to about half of the newsroom of the Washington Post–including most of the tech reporters there.

Somehow, despite regular reminders that maybe I don’t quite know what I’m doing, I carry on accumulating clients and 1099 tax forms. And if I can get away with this caper for another two and a half years, I will have spent more time working for myself than for any one company. That will be weird, but maybe not much more stranger than my entire career path so far.

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Today

1. Got a web app soft launch completed successfully within the deadline, despite a few obstacles which required some creative lateral thinking. #WebDevelopment

2. A bank transfer from a new client arrived within hours rather than the usual days. Dunno how or why but I'll take it. #Freelancing

3. Lovely walk with all 3 dogs around the farm paths in the setting sun. The elderly one joined us so we went extra slow, which was actually nice. #Dogs #FarmLife

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Today

1. Got a web app soft launch completed successfully within the deadline, despite a few obstacles which required some creative lateral thinking. #WebDevelopment

2. A bank transfer from a new client arrived within hours rather than the usual days. Dunno how or why but I'll take it. #Freelancing

3. Lovely walk with all 3 dogs around the farm paths in the setting sun. The elderly one joined us so we went extra slow, which was actually nice. #Dogs #FarmLife

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Today

1. Got a web app soft launch completed successfully within the deadline, despite a few obstacles which required some creative lateral thinking. #WebDevelopment

2. A bank transfer from a new client arrived within hours rather than the usual days. Dunno how or why but I'll take it. #Freelancing

3. Lovely walk with all 3 dogs around the farm paths in the setting sun. The elderly one joined us so we went extra slow, which was actually nice. #Dogs #FarmLife

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Today

1. Got a web app soft launch completed successfully within the deadline, despite a few obstacles which required some creative lateral thinking. #WebDevelopment

2. A bank transfer from a new client arrived within hours rather than the usual days. Dunno how or why but I'll take it. #Freelancing

3. Lovely walk with all 3 dogs around the farm paths in the setting sun. The elderly one joined us so we went extra slow, which was actually nice. #Dogs #FarmLife

#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Today

1. Got a web app soft launch completed successfully within the deadline, despite a few obstacles which required some creative lateral thinking. #WebDevelopment

2. A bank transfer from a new client arrived within hours rather than the usual days. Dunno how or why but I'll take it. #Freelancing

3. Lovely walk with all 3 dogs around the farm paths in the setting sun. The elderly one joined us so we went extra slow, which was actually nice. #Dogs #FarmLife

Discover highly paying freelance online work to achieve the challenge.
https://www.funfunds.in/2026/04/how-to-earn-rs-50000-per-month-discover.html

#funfunds #SmartEarning #SmartInvesting #funandfunds #fundswithfun #freelance #freelancing