Working Nine To Five (well, sometimes)

I’m working!

I have been back in the capital a while now, and a couple of weeks ago decided I’d aim for a three day working week, just as I had been doing a few months ago in Campbeltown. 

Some think it’s lame, lazy even, but if I’m to try and hold onto what little is left of my sabbatical, it seems worth a try - at least whilst there is still some folding in the bank.

Last week, my three days in the office were spent setting up my machine and getting it to run right. It’s slightly older than the laptop I’ve been using so I had to retune my head a little. I also spent some time putting feelers out, contacting old colleagues, and generally looking for work.

LinkedIn, for the unaccustomed, is a fabulous website rather like Facebook but for professional contacts. You can hunt down old work contacts and see where they work these days, as well as target new ones who might be able to help you in some way. In return, you too become targeted by individuals who might be looking for your particular skill-set, or to make contact with someone you know. I think they call it ‘networking’. 

References from various key working relationships help sell your offer, both those that you hold, along with those that you write for others.

A combination of other sites and blogs as well as keeping my own up to date, have helped get my ball rolling, and very quickly at that.

By the end of the week, it seemed I’d had a spot of luck.

Firstly, out of the blue, an email from a magazine looking for someone to undertake a rolling illustration commission for a new publication - 13 issues a year.

The money isn’t great, but the work is - exactly the calibre I’ve been gearing myself towards with my personal illustration work! It seems all that hard work could be paying off, and I’ve yet to find out how they discovered me. I’ve been so busy in fact that I’m currently not really paying attention to the hunt for more work - the biggest error in business. 

That’ll come in time though.

The other interesting potential project around the corner is one for a couple of entrepreneurs who need help building their brand - the other calibre of work that is right up my street - mainly because I’m well practiced in this line of work. I approached them after seeing a call for input, and they seem interested in speaking to me.

It’s of huge personal interest too, so fingers crossed, the planned meeting in a few days turns it into something more solid.

So this week has been spent basically working on the commission to agree direction, and pulling a presentation together for the other guys. 

For the latter, I spent the best part of yesterday at the all new Canada Water Library, a fantastic resource that is well used by the community. 

Not only is the architecture amazingly cool, but the facilities inside are cutting edge!

I sat up in the gods of the building, overlooking Twinkle and Rhettstar in the toddler group far below, working away with a great coffee and slice of chocolate fudge-cake at a workstation with wifi and a power outlet along with some trendy student types.

I don’t have to stress about setting the alarm, I can avoid the rush hour, I’ve yet to work late (although I do work through lunch often to balance the time out), I can choose to work around the corner or go into the office, or indeed just take the day off without having to sign a form or beg to the boss (although technically, I guess I do beg the real boss - Twinkle)

I'm not entirely sure I can claim to be 'on sabbatical' any more, but if I can continue to pull this gig off, I think I might have found the perfect work / life balance!

London Calling

Finally, I'm in London again.

I've been away for five years. There is a fantastic vibe here I'd forgotten all about, but more than this, London is now new and improved!

It's been quite a year in London during my absence. The Queen (gawd bless her) has had her Diamond Jubilee, and the London Olympics have only just finished too.

And whilst I sadly missed the celebrations, there is still an air of happiness on the streets. People smile now, and god forbid, even the staff on the London Underground walk and talk with a new found spark of liveliness.

It's a London I like!

The coffee is good (so long as I remember to ask for a 'single shot Latte') as is the food and because of a lack of panic to get to work, the Underground now seems actually quite bearable in the mornings. My Oyster Card, framed in 2007 and underscored with the letters 'R.I.P.' has been reinstated as my ticket to ride (now with a funky Buckingham Palace illustration!), and I'm renting a desk 4 stops from home, in Waterloo, just a stones throw from Big Ben, London Bridge, and of course, the River Thames.

Working once again in a real office, with real people wasn't in the plan. Well, certainly not yet, but needs must, and our tiny flat here means there is no room for any form of setup at home now that we have a toddler. But the office is very close, and it does start to separate the two things - work and home - meaning I can start to treat my illustration work as 'work' and not simply play.

I feel like a grown up again - but not one who has returned to his old working life in London - a more mature adult who is starting out for the first time on a new mission. It's all fresh again. No one is telling me off for not working fast enough, no one is feeding me bullshit about why I can't have a better pay deal. I'm finally my own boss.

It's all on my shoulders now. No one to blame for it failing but myself.

Shit. What on Gods earth am I doing? I have mouths to feed! I'm too old to be pissing the family money up the wall on this daft sabbatical aren't I?

Well, you know what, life is too short. I learnt that lesson many years ago, and have recently been reminded of that fact again. So the party must continue, at least for now. The fear of money alone will keep me kicking like an enraged bull at a rodeo.

Yesterday, I started drawing again, catching up on last weeks Illustration Friday, and I now have in my possession what we shipped 9 months ago from Australia - including my iMac, and most importantly, my toaster desk tidy to house what now seems like a huge collection of pens and pencils.

London, I think we'll stay a while.


*If you too want pictures of London's iconic landscape without the presence of thousands of tourists ruining your shots, arrive before 6am. London is at it's best at sunrise.