What I’ve Learned About My Professional Care Schedule
One of the most frequent questions I hear is, “How is working you different from working with an agency?”
The answer really comes down to one factor. Whether I’m working alone or in a bespoke team of collaborators from the quarter-century club (who, like myself, have more than 25 years of experience), I’m coming to the table as a CEO in my own right.
What does that mean?
The head of every department is me. I do some of that leadership work myself—and I outsource tasks beyond my skillset, like bookkeeping, or those that need fresh eyes, like proofreading.
Building new skills, systems, processes, and tools is a constant. They help me deliver the best outcomes for clients on efficient schedules that support the personal flexibility I value.
Pricing is part of the business. It covers the costs of operations and compensation, as well as bigger picture expenses like taxes, insurance, healthcare, retirement, equipment upgrades, reserves, and more.
Mornings are for deep work, when I’m fresh. Lighter tasks get chunked up alongside collaboration calls in the afternoons, as long as time zones allow.
Fridays are free days. I don’t generally schedule calls on Fridays, so I have a built-in day to accommodate work overflow, personal appointments, and the occasional mind-refreshing adventure.
Perhaps the biggest difference: The 40-hour work week is not in my world view. At 27 years into my career, clients value my experience, knowledge, judgment, insight, skills, results, and teaching ability. So, like most experienced consultants, I typically work on flat project rates or a subscription model that reward me and my clients when I find efficiencies.
That’s where professional care comes in. Working better and smarter requires space. Some might call it self-care, but that always brings to mind images of facials and tea parties, which have their own place in the scheme of things.
Professional care, for me, is a stroll around the neighborhood before work. Tossing in a load of laundry after a business call. Grocery shopping at 1 p.m. on a Thursday. Sitting in on a webinar for a new technology. Dawdling over lunch with a friend. Digging postholes for a new fence on a cool afternoon. Keeping in touch with my network of freelance friends. Catching my friend-like-niece’s school concert.
Integrating moments of home between moments of work keeps my whole ship on an even keel. That’s better for me, of course, because there’s no never-ending to-do list to tackle. It’s also better for my clients, who know that I am totally present when we’re working together.