Passing the two winter test

And managing the ebb and flow of freelance life

Things are hotting up in the Han household, by that I just mean I am SUPER busy with the day job and so I am going to try and keep this brief. The problem is once I start writing it’s like verbal diarrhoea…

I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you a teeny bit about my day job. Like many people I got increasingly frustrated with traditional employment opportunities, or lack thereof given my limited skills. In an ideal world I simply wouldn’t work, but this isn’t an ideal world. One day I was chatting to a colleague who was also at the point of walking out and she suggested I look into becoming a Virtual Assistant. VA’s are a sort of admin freelancer for solopreneurs and small businesses and it sounded like the perfect get out.

Given most of my work has been in admin and managing small teams, processes and a whole bunch of stuff, it seemed like a good solution. And so almost 5 years ago, I realised it was time and only I was in control of the change. There was no point spending my time hoping things would change, that I would suddenly wake up full of pep for my job, or feel like a valued member of the organisation, it was up to me. I handed in my notice and figured it out as I went along. To start with I took on bank shifts supporting adults with learning disabilities, a sector I’ve worked in for 9 years, which gave me the flexibility to pick my own shifts and get started with my business.

Thankfully it worked and 4 years ago I went full time in my business and things kind of tick over. It ebbs and flows but I have 6 core clients, some who’ve had the utter joy of working with me for four and a half years! But like I say, it ebbs and flows and after the ebb of summer, it’s slowly building and now we enter a phase of full flow for the next 8 or so weeks, after which it’ll quieten down for 4 weeks, then pick up again early January. My clients predominantly offer business to business services and everything always seems to quiet down during the school holidays, it’s a nice rhythm even though at times it feels like I’m herding several groups of cats at the same time!

That’s where I find myself now, thinking about work most of the time, contemplating how I’m going to squeeze it all in and all the while, wanting to spend my time writing and hanging out here instead. I know, poor little old me, cue the tiny violins 🎻

Don’t worry I still get to escape every now and again. On Friday I headed into town for the day to make use of the new fancy pants coworking space at The Old Library. It’s safe to say the weather turned this week, with winds gusting over 50mph which we felt every bit of on the journey across Scapa Flow. It’s the worst I’ve experienced so far, not only was the sea swell crashing over the side of the ferry and covering the cars, one wave made it the whole way over the ferry. It was pretty wild, but a lot of fun too. This is close as I’m going to get to a rollercoaster ride or Redbull Rampage any time soon.

Photo taken just after a wave had crashed over the car

Of course, no trip to Mainland is just for fun, there are tip runs, shopping chores, the BIG food shop plus a quick visit to the garden centre for winter seeds. Not complaining about that last one though, except for the very average seed collection. I also got to meet a friend for lunch which was lovely, we met on Instagram a year or so ago and just clicked.

Before I started the business I imagined myself channeling the insta-worthy vibe, working in coffee shops and coworking spaces. I’d be hanging out all hipster like at Spark York clinging to the idea of youth. But it wasn’t meant to be. Covid hit and then as things started to open up we moved to rural Yorkshire and then onto Orkney. So instead of hanging out at cool places, I’m in an office that rarely gets above 16 degrees, the internet wipes out when the wind is too high and I hear mice (or maybe rats) scratching in the walls BUT I do get to regularly enjoy this view, so swings and roundabouts right?

Garden view

This morning I attempted something I’ve tried countless times before with limited success: waking up early. Not 5am-early, I’m not that kind of efficient, but I set my alarm for six with grand visions of finishing off this post before diving into my day. Well, I snoozed my watch alarm at 6:10 and eventually hauled myself out of bed at 6:20, but then I had to spend 15 minutes cuddling the dog. It would be rude not to.

When we finally made it outside for the morning ablutions (her not me), another 15 minutes had gone by as the dog had to sniff every blade of grass, check the ‘mouse run’ and see if she couldn’t find herself a hedgehog.

So here I am, about 45 minutes later than planned with the laptop open and cup of tea in hand, adding the final touches to this week’s piece before diving into work. The original plan was to spend 30 minutes writing the book maybe I should stick to my guns and do that now…

Does anyone else go through this ritual of optimistic morning goals but in reality continually hit snooze before snuggling with their pet instead?

Last word.

We received a much coveted sign of approval from a neighbour yesterday who we don’t see very often, on account of the fact we both have dogs who behave like dicks. He said we’ve passed the test - if you can survive two winters here, it probably means you're set to stay. It'll still be a while before some of the traditional Orcadians accept or even acknowledge us, but I certainly feel like we’re becoming an accepted part of the community. I was also chatting to another neighbour, an Orcadian farmer, who made some comment about incomers, but caveated it with, not like you, you're OK. High praise indeed.

Take care

Han 🧡