Jenn HollowellDon’t Count the Hours!
October 13th 2008 17:00
When I worked a salaried position, I made the mistake of taking my pay and figuring out how much I was making per hour. My supervisor was very upset with me and shouted, “Don’t count the hours!” I was earning around $20,000 per year back then and, when I figured out my hourly wage, it was about $3.72 because I worked SO much.
Well. I did it again today. Instead of counting hours, though, I counted words. I was contemplating how many words I would be writing for my articles, blog posts, and book work in comparison to the amount of hours I would be working today . . . and then calculating how much I was planning to earn from these assignments . . . yeah, it was a big mistake again.
I shouldn’t have done it the first time, and I shouldn’t have done it the second time. Clearly I didn’t learn from that mistake. Why do I do this to myself? I know it’s easy to get caught up in the wages earned when working as an independent contractor because there’s so much competition in the field, plus there’s always that worry of not earning enough.
So, I’m not going to do that again. I say that now, but I’m sure ten years from now (because it was ten years ago the first time I did this), I’ll be reprimanding myself for making this mistake again. I need to just focus on the work, set a limit for each work day, and then let things be. I’m making all of my deadlines, I’m enjoying the work, and I’m securing more when things fall off . . . so I need to get over myself and get to work!
Have you found yourself “doing the math” when you really should’ve left things alone?
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Comment by Kimberlee
Great post!
Kimberlee
Comment by Jenn Hollowell
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Comment by Rebecca Laffar-Smith
If you're loving the amount of work you're doing and are comfortable with your income bracket then you're doing brilliantly. But if the maths makes you uncomfortable, it's time to challenge yourself to do more and demand more from others.
Perhaps its time to ask for a raise from your current regular contracts? And set your rate higher for incoming ones.
Comment by Jenn Hollowell
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