The Lady Programmer

I’ve been discussing a number of interesting games to keep a healthy diversion out of the job. These games are those that often require the use of computers with the fastest hardware that can support 3D gaming glory.

Alienware Desktop Computers offers desktop and laptop computers with a twist. It complements computers that are used primarily for computer gaming. I could easily why the site is named as such, because their computers sports out of the world designs.

When I got the first break at getting hired in a freelance site, freelance opportunities seemed to come one after another. There is what we call “dry” periods in freelancing where there seemed to be fewer opportunities. That was when I went to Elance to try to find job opportunities. I was not able to get my first job but since my profile was linked to my first profile, then I was able to easily get the attention of buyers without applying to their job opening.

Image credit to Gemma Longman

Elance is a large freelance site where it offers opportunities for freelances to find IT-related freelance jobs. Writers can also find writing gigs and even those who know the computer basics can find a huge number of data entry jobs posted out on the site. What I just do not like with the site is the limited number of connects that I have each month with the site. Connects are like credits, to gain more connects I have to upgrade my membership or purchase more connects. Unlike oDesk, Elance often involves money to avail of more opportunities. Even if the buyer initiated an invitation for a job, it is still requires to use a number of connects. Perhaps this is because Elance is one of the famous freelance sites which offer more job opportunities.

I think that maintaining a number of freelance sites will not dry me up from great opportunities that await me.

I’m quite an audiophile. When high-fidelity sound system on computers was the rage a few years back, I was one of the first who willingly upgraded ordinary speakers to hear the full surround range. I’m still using that but then Soundcast came along, and now I’m dreaming of having their wireless speakers.

Soundcast speakers are great, but my favorite one is their Outcast speaker model. This particular speaker interests me because it is such a small speaker but can deliver high quality sound that can rock the house or provide multi-directional music in the outdoors. It can be configured easily with devices that support wireless configurations. It delivers such oomph that even celebrities like Sean “P-Daddy” Combs actually purchased several to enjoy right at his home and to a number of his parties.

woman in pool by vassiliki (stock.xchng)

Given that technology is moving further into the wireless world, I think getting a wireless speaker is a good choice. The Outcast speaker is even better because it relieves everyone from getting worried from getting electrical accidents when using wired speakers.

I was feeling down over the weekend. It was my first time to have this feeling again. I often felt the feeling of getting tired and losing motivation over work. Perhaps it is the feeling that I had because there were lesser opportunities than the sudden influx of work two weeks ago. I felt a bit down but I took the time off to do the things that I had to do.

It is a fact that being in freelance is a lot similar to being a business. Getting freelance jobs is almost a one-man business operation. I did not have this kind of mindset when I stepped into freelance. I had to unlearn the lessons that I’ve learned as being an employee to the skills that successful businessmen use. I had to change my mindset from being an employee to being an entrepreneur.

I was up all weekend to seek ways to bring back the feeling of love for freelancing:

• Take a longer break. I did not yet aimed for a long break from work, but I think getting myself out from the routine helps me a lot. I had a longer break this weekend and it refreshed my memory. I made it up for friends whom I lost touch because of my job. I went out with my family and bonded together.
• Change the daily routine. I really got quite tired of having to sleep at the wee hours in the morning to waking up in the middle of the day. I had to modify my daily routine once in a while. It can help to juggle the tasks to be done during the day – for instance, I can decide to swap tasks that I usually do in the morning to doing these late at night.
• Reading books and watching TV shows and movies. Books, TV shows and movies often give new ideas and fresh perspective. Not all are worth viewing and reading though, but these can be helpful in giving insights and learning lessons well.
• Get away from the workplace. As a freelancer, my workplace is my home and I tried to stay away from it. I’m just glad that my place is quite huge enough to accommodate a terrace of the nice mountainous view of our city. I just needed a longer time off and just think about – nothing!
• Meditation, yoga and other physical activities. I work long hours at a computer terminal, but it often helps me if I could do some physical activities from time to time. But if one’s job involves a lot of physical activities, then I think doing the opposite like getting busy with mental puzzles will brighten up one’s mind. I really believe that balance should be maintained to get a healthy well-being.
• Put up metrics and set goals. Oftentimes the lack of challenge in one’s work is the one can lead to unhappiness and lack of job fulfillment. I find it more challenging for me to monitor my daily earnings. Even if I get tired of doing one job after another, I find fulfillment in knowing that I would be getting a huge amount of money for it. But monitoring the daily earning is not enough, I had to monitor and set realistic expectations from the earnings that I gain. These expectations are often goals that we have: successful people look to these goals after they had achieved a previous goal. It does not stop at getting at a comfort nest.

photo credit: mzacha (SXC)

There can be a lot more ways to bring back one’s motivation. I think the list above does not only apply to freelance jobs but to anyone who is involved in doing work. I’m interested to know if you had even come up with other ways to get back to work fully charged and motivated.

A newcomer finds it often quite difficult to fit into a new place. If that newcomer seemed to be different from the rest then it can be more difficult to get along with the others. The Sproutwells try to fit into the world that is dominated by humans. If I would happen to be the human who will be meeting new neighbors and see how they look like, I would also get shocked at the kind of family that I would see.

The Sproutwells seemed to be nice people though. But I think they can be easily misunderstood.

If I happen to be a vegetable like the Sproutwells then I’d rather be a cabbage. It is a nutritious vegetable that tastes delicious and goes with a variety of viands. I would relate to this to my personality where I go with different types of people and project a warm personality. I would use these traits to get people to understand me and look more into my personality than making rash judgments over my appearance.

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