Four Years In — and Still Waiting for That Quiet Spell

Time flies, and half the time I barely know what day it is. Has that made me any better at writing things down or setting alarms? God, no. That is still firmly my husband's department, and I would be completely lost without him in our everyday life.

So it took LinkedIn — or rather, my connections — to remind me yesterday that it has been four years since I started this freelance journey. Four years. I almost missed my own anniversary.

How it actually started

I didn't start off with a grand plan. The idea was simple: a little extra income. Maybe, maybe, something bigger one day, but I wasn't getting my hopes up.

So I started small. A bit of transcription, then some simple translation jobs, the occasional odd task here and there — all sporadic, all squeezed into the edges of my week. And I quickly learned that running it as a side gig was harder than it looked. Agencies have deadlines, and I had a full-time job. The two don't always agree on when things should be done.

Then came the project that changed my mind. One job, two weeks, just under €5,000. And I thought: why not?

That was late 2022. It made me set myself a goal. By the end of 2023, I would quit my job and never look back.

And I did. Four months ahead of my own deadline.

And then it all fell apart

Two days after I handed in my letter of resignation, the very project that had given me the confidence to resign stopped. No warning, no winding down. Just gone.

The slow period lasted about a month before it was full throttle again with a new project. I told myself that was the scary part behind me.

It wasn't. The second slow stretch was worse. Lower income across nearly five months. But I did the work. I spent hours and hours marketing myself, and I made a point of learning from people I genuinely trusted and admired.

And now? I am still waiting for that downtime to come back. It has been fifteen months with more work than I sometimes know what to do with — and yes, not always knowing exactly what is happening when or where. (See above, re: husband.)

It has been quite a ride.

What these four years taught me

A few things have stuck with me, and they are worth passing on:

• When one door closes, keep going. There is usually something bigger and better waiting just around the corner — you just can't see it yet.

• Never dismiss something because it wasn't what you set out to do. Those "off-plan" jobs are often the ones that teach you the most, prove to be the most profitable, or even what you really want to do.

• The best time to market yourself and build new skills is when you are already too busy. It feels counterintuitive, but it is your best secret weapon against the next slow spell. Quiet periods can only be avoided during the loud ones.

• The freedom is worth everything. The freedom freelancing gives me, in both time and finances, is not something I would trade for the world. I am never going back to being an employee.

  
  

And that last point comes with a small confession: it is exactly why I have everything to lose if I deliver low-quality work. So I don't. Just so you know.

Here's to the next four

Here's to four more years — well, far more than four, of course. To the freedom to work from a tropical paradise in the middle of a Norwegian winter if I feel like it. Being able to give my family whatever they need and desire. And to building something that actually means something to me.

Cheers to that.