#self-employed — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #self-employed, aggregated by home.social.
-
Is your AuDHD business secretly set up to burn you out?
Take the 12-question quiz to find out.
https://buff.ly/qKZhXW5 -
The #1 thing killing AuDHD businesses?
Not knowing you're headed for burnout until you crash.
Take the free health check →
https://www.autismchrysalis.com/business-burnout-quiz/
#AuDHD #SelfEmployed #ActuallyAutistic #ADHD #SelfEmployed #Burnout
-
Most self-employed AuDHDers don't realize they're headed
for burnout until it's too late.Find out where you stand.
Take the 12-question AuDHD business health check. Free quiz.
-
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.
#1099 #caper #cubicle #freelance #freelancing #fullTimeFreelance #independentContractor #journalism #journalist #office #SchedC #ScheduleC #selfEmployed #workFromHome -
I have to tell a potential client no tomorrow, and I don't think I've ever done that before. I have a horrible #pleaser gene, so I somehow have to grow a massive pair before tomorrow.
Really, I'd prefer just writing awesome code and building cool stuff. Preferably on my own terms. While being selfempl..
Oh, walked right into one.
Growing it is.
-
Hey freelance developer friends, do you carry insurance policies for your work? One of my contracts is asking me to have a $2 million dollar liability insurance policy in order to work for them.
Is that amount a reasonable ask for a single freelance developer?
Where do you buy your insurance from and what kind of policy are you carrying?
-
FGS someone tell me to get on with my story practice and stop procrastinating!
It’s Easter Sunday and this one takes 45 minutes and it’s sooo difficult but heck
#selfEmployed #freelance #work -
[EN⬇️ ]
#Petition zur Einbeziehung der Versicherten der #Künstlersozialkasse in die sogenannte #Aktivrente #BundestagMitzeichnen unter https://epetitionen.bundestag.de/petitionen/_2026/_02/_23/Petition_195545.nc.html
#Rente #Armut #Kunst #Kultur #ksk
[EN]
Someone started a petition to include #artists who are insured via the Artists’ #Social #Security #Insurance Levy into the governments pension plansThe #insurence is very special & was founded to provide #socialsecurity for #selfemployed artists & publicists
-
Thanks for sharing your experience with going solo: Studio Self.
Many interesting observations. This one will touch base with many ambitious creatives:
"We’d struggled with precisely that experience: attempting to scale our own capabilities by hiring someone else, only to find ourselves mired in a level of mediocrity"
Interesting to read how you use AI to 'outsource' non-creative tasks, so you can focus on what you do best and like most.
-
Today, in a discussion, the question came up (by someone who has an inactive #Mastodon account), if the #Fediverse is welcoming for self-employed people who use social to market their services...
...I (as a self-employed person myself) don't have a full yes to that.
So, then, are people who need to market their services for a living stuck to the billionaire platforms?
What do you think?
(that person isn't happy with Meta & Co)
-
Please help me decide!
If you're Autistic and self-employed, I want your opinion!The self-employment without burnout course is almost ready to go live. But I'm still vaccinating on the name. The contenders are:
A) Anchored: Build Your Business to Work for You
for Autistic & AuDHD SolopreneursB) Unburnable: Build Your Business to Work for You
for Autistic & AuDHD SolopreneursC) Unburnable: Build a Burnout-Resistant Business
for Autistic & AuDHD SolopreneursD) AuDHDers: Work for Yourself Without Burning Out
Please comment with opinions or suggestions!
(And do you think of yourself as self-employed, a solopreneur, do you "work for yourself"? How do you say it to yourself?)
-
Boy Selling Towel That Stays Cool for 2 Hours Wins $200,000 in Prize Money
-
As an #editor, I have not always been the only #SelfEmployed person in my household. Here's a Facebook memory from 2015 showing my mate, a #cabinetmaker, working away. He has never been one to create lists on a computer. 😁
-
Quite hard convo with a couple of late payers. I'd say this is the worst side of being a #selfemployed #digitalnomad . I don't like the potential conflict. Just pay up you....
-
He Earns More in an Hour as Spider-Man Than a Full Day at his Old Supermarket Job
-
AuDHDers: tired of burning out trying to make self-employment work?
A lot of solopreneur advice assumes people work in the same way, but Autistic and AuDHD founders have totally different strengths and challenges.
I'm launching a new course soon: Work for Yourself Without Burning Out
http://www.autismchrysalis.com/audhd-solopreneur
1/2
#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #AutisticBusiness #NeurodivergentEntrepreneur #AutisticFreelancer #SelfEmployed #Solopreneur -
So something like the #PostOffice #HorizonScandal could then happen to all #SelfEmployed people... a software bug creating the impression they have something wrong when they haven't. What a bright idea.
-
luckily I'm under the 30k turnover threshold, so #MakingTaxDigital will only affect me from April 2028. Hoping that the system will have collapsed by then. Also, according to the emails they keep sending me, the April 2028 step hasn't been officially approved yet. Fingers crossed ... https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/feb/21/making-tax-digital-ready-hmrc-self-assessment-shake-up #selfEmployed
-
Having #editor buddies (aka #edibuddies) is vital to #MentalHealth when you're #SelfEmployed. I've enjoyed talking & planning this week with The Quad, the #mastermind group I've been part of since 2015. It's great to analyze biz plans, compare work tools, & get support. 💖 https://quadlings.com/
-
Tired of burning out trying to make self-employment work?
You're not failing.The advice you've been following just wasn't built for Autistic and AuDHD brains.
"Just show up on video every day!" NO! "Network constantly!" NO! "Hustle harder!" NO!I'm launching a new course soon: Work for Yourself Without Burning Out
1/2#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #AutisticFreelancer #SelfEmployed #Solopreneur
-
Baker given 'unrealistic' AI picture of cake, but the results are 'even better'
-
UK HMRC’s new tax rules are rolling out! 😟
If you’re self-employed or a landlord, you will be affected if not this tax year then in the next two years, depending on your turnover.
More information and details on the new quarterly reporting obligations and digital filing requirements in this episode from @HelpBoxUK
-
For every AuDHD solopreneur who's been told to "Network constantly!" or "Hustle harder!"—I'm launching a new course soon:
Learn:
→ Executive function hacks to take the load off
→ Marketing when you don't want to be perceived
→ Pricing fairly without guilt
→ Client boundaries and communication
→ Creating your sensory-friendly workspace
And more...→ http://www.autismchrysalis.com/audhd-solopreneur
#ActuallyAutistic #AuDHD #AutisticBusiness #NeurodivergentEntrepreneur #AutisticFreelancer #SelfEmployed #Solopreneur
-
RE: https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@stefano/115893474212360253
UPDATE: I just had a talk with two of the owners (whom I've known for years) and one of the young developers who was on yesterday's call. She confirmed that this manager's behavior was unmanageable. High-strung and narcissistic, he had apparently been let go from his previous company due to his inability to work with colleagues and owners alike. It seems he was even trying to boss the owners around.
To make a long story short, the entire sysadmin team threatened to quit if I stopped collaborating with the company. As a result, the owners summoned the manager in the late morning, and he resigned. They are reverting to the previous management structure (led by one of the owners). They might drop a few projects, but they said they prefer returning to a more "human" way of running the business - which is what always set them apart in the past.
I told them I'll think about it. If things are truly as they say (and I have no reason to doubt them yet), I'll propose a 6-month trial collaboration to see how things actually evolve. I'm aware it's easy to "pass the buck" - was it really just the manager's fault, or are the owners using him as a scapegoat now that things went south? However, given our history, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now.
#IT #FreelanceLife #WorkLifeBalance #ToxicManagement #TechLife #Consulting #SelfEmployed
-
Hey fellow #AuDHD and/or #selfEmployed folks!
I love being self-employed because my ADHD just doesn't let me work on someone else's schedule. I thrive on the fact that I'm my own boss and that as long as I always keep deadlines and quality standards, I can structure my work according to my health and needs.
However, I've been struggling lately with separating work from free time. Since I'm able to work at an irregular schedule of my own choosing, I technically always feel like I'm 'on call'. I can never clear my head, go home and say 'I'm off the clock now' like regular employees.
I've been thinking about a few ways to tackle this issue myself.
I could of course designate a certain time span as 'work time' and set boundaries that way. But that'd defeat the entire advantage of being self-employed, that being that I work on my own spontaneous schedule. I need the ability to say "I'll work from midnight til 3 AM tonight", "I'll be able to do a 9–5 today because my brain's feeling really good today", or even "I can't work today at all". With a set schedule, I can't do this.
I might split 'on-call and available for e-mails' time from 'get work done' time, because the former is usually what causes the anxiety.
I'm also thinking about using separate user accounts for work and personal computing to further separate the two worlds; but without clearly defined times for boundaries, that'd just mean I'd constantly check the work account regardless, anxious that I'm missing important messages.
Do any of you have experience with this and could perhaps give me some advice?