We had an unusual stretch of unbroken cold weather this winter here in eastern Massachusetts. In fact, local meteorologist Eric Fisher said it was first time since 2003 that Boston hasn’t gone above 50 degrees even once in January/February. There were only so many online classes I was in the mood to watch as I hibernated at home. And I wasn’t ready yet to dive into the decluttering projects I know I need to face.
Which made it feel like a good time to do a few more freelance articles for my former employer. Especially since there are still some ideas about the R programming language and generative AI I’ve been eager to explore.
I don’t want to get myself re-addicted to working again. But it’s nice to be able to occasionally dive into topics I find compelling to research and write about. Earning some money again is appealing, too! Plus, freelancing lets me do what I liked most about my job without some of the things I liked less, such as a jam-packed schedule, back-to-back-to-back meetings, and too little control over my to-do list.
For this second round of freelancing, I learned a lesson from the first time and proposed more spacious deadlines between story pitches and due dates. That let me skip a few days to visit with family and friends, work on hobby projects, or just chill, without stressing out.
It was useful to find a rhythm of working on a looser timetable, in part because it got me wondering whether my efforts to keep up-to-date with professional topics were starting to resemble some of my bad work-from-home Type A habits. More specifically: I wasn’t taking enough breaks or setting any schedule boundaries. Instead, I let my research haphazardly bleed into almost every day, multiple times a day. Not good. No matter how interesting something is, if it involves staring at a screen, I need to take time off.
So, I gave myself a real weekend the week before last. I did some work Friday, then completely unplugged from both my freelancing and any professional-topic-related social media Saturday and Sunday and had fun with friends both days instead. Then I went back to it on Monday feeling refreshed and re-energized. It was great!
Last Monday even felt a little like a post-weekend workday of old, as I hurried to finish up an article before a 4 pm meeting with co-workers. Well, former co-workers. And the “meeting” was really a video chat to catch up with a couple of work friends I’ve missed. Timing was convenient for all, since they’re in Europe and it was well after working hours for them, while I had enough time and energy on my end to cook a healthy dinner.
And then I had rest of the week to go back to my retired life.
One of my latest articles might be of interest even if you don’t like to program 😀 Chat with your data: How 4 genAI tools stack up . No coding needed! You can even use these tools to upload info like your smart TV manual and then ask questions.
If you code in the R programming language, FYI my latest for InfoWorld: 3 of the best LLM integration tools for R
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