Pushing Tin

“What am I going to do? It’s four in the morning. I can’t get back to sleep. I may as well get up and get to work, but I’ll be so tired later in the day. I’ll need a nap. DOH! I did it again. I said ‘yes’ to another job.”

Ahh, the joys of freelancing. I’ve been freelancing in one form for most of my working life. I started out as a singer/songwriter and touring musician. That work really taught me how the cash-flow can have radical “ups and downs.” The thought is always, “will there be work next year (or next month)?” That creates tension and tends to make me say “yes” to any and all work that comes along. Of course, this can get me into trouble for a couple of reasons. One is that I may say yes to work that I’m not suited for and two, that I may take on too much.

I learned the hard way as a musician about taking on work I’m not suited for. There’s nothing like performing in a venue for an audience that wants to hear one thing but not knowing any material suitable for that audience. It can make a four-hour gig feel like eons. Fortunately, I don’t take on work in my design business that I don’t feel I want to do or am unable to do.

The issue of taking on too much is a more difficult problem, and it reminds me of how people of my parent’s generation have never really forgotten the Great Depression of the 1930s. It still has an impact on decisions they make. I still have the memory of dry work periods as a musician which, motivates me to say “yes.”

About once a year, I find myself in the position of taking on too much at one time. It’s extremely uncomfortable when it happens and causes me to wake early and spend the day juggling several jobs at once so that by the end of the day, I feel like time has been shredded into a million little pieces which further increases the sense of urgency to everything.

Somehow, it all works out. I have great clients and most are understanding, though I dislike the delays that sometimes happen. The closest analogy I have of this situation is from the movie Pushing Tin which is about an air traffic controller. The title refers to what they call all the airplanes circling the airport that need to get landed. When there’s a lot of air traffic, the tension and stress is really high.

Right now, I’m pushing tin.

Current jobs on the go are:

• Website redesign for ArtStarts in Schools
• Website redesign for BC Touring Council
• Newsletter design/layout for Creative City Network of Canada
• Several posters and ads for Kicking Horse Culture
• Website design for playwright Jeff Pitcher
• Website update for AMSSA’s Safe Harbour
• Website update for Elizabeth Brodovitch
• Contract work to administer a grants program for 2010 Legacies Now
• Preparation for a design workshop at Vancouver Island Arts Summit

and more…