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Is it actually worth the stress?

16 May

I was chatting to a business associate the other day. He’s enjoying his high-powered, high-stress and, let’s be honest, high-earning position, managing all sorts of change, rushing around here, there and everywhere … or he thinks he is.

Actually, he’s plagued by all sorts of niggling illnesses, that have become worse. Nothing that’s putting him in hospital, but things that are affecting his quality of life, outside work more than inside, and can’t be ignored.

So, is it worth the stress?

Downsizing your life, downsizing your stress levels

I can claim to be a bit of an expert on this, from personal experience. Having been doing a management-level, fairly demanding job in London, when we moved to the Midlands I was determined to have “a job”. In fact, we both agreed we would indulge ourselves for a year, M going back to post-graduate study and me looking for a basic level library job.

I had a bit of trouble, as a qualified librarian, getting a basic entry level job, but I did in the end. Lots of people said I would get bored; my managers tried to encourage me to apply for promotions I didn’t really want. I’d been up the corporate ladder, and I knew that it suited me at the time to have “a job” rather than “a career”, something that would pay the bills but allow me the resources and energy to enjoy my new life in a new city.

So that’s what I did, and I was perfectly content for a good few years. In fact, having that lower-stress, lower-responsibility job allowed me to start up Libro and develop my own business.

Different career paths for different life stages

Now, I could have quite easily chosen to progress through the corporate ranks again, gone for those management jobs, gone for the higher salary, which is always a consideration, isn’t it. But I decided to go this alternative route, and set up the business.

But I did that in as stress-free and risk-free a way as I could (see my article on not taking risks for more information). I’d decided it wasn’t worth the fear of going full-time at the beginning, the stress of having to scrape around for money to live on, etc. Instead, I lived very frugally, scraped together money to live on in advance, and launched Libro full time in January 2012.

Now I have a satisfying job, where I’m responsible to myself and my clients, no bosses, no employees. I earn more than I’ve earned in any of my corporate jobs, and, having identified during my career that I like to work in this way, that I don’t like office politics, being a manager, etc., I can honestly say that, even running my own business where every sick day means income and jobs lost, where I do sometimes put in an 11 hour day, but where I can claim what I know makes me happy:

  • responsibility for myself and my clients
  • no employees
  • no office politics
  • flexibility to juggle my day to fit in friends and exercise

I am as stress-free as I can be. And I have no stress dermatitis, no IBS, I’m fit and healthy and enjoying life.

I’m not boasting about this: it’s taken time to know myself and know what I want, and it’s taken hard work to get here, which hasn’t always been the most fun I’ve ever had. But I’m in my own space now, not trying to jam myself into an inappropriate role, and I’m very much happier as a result.

Know yourself and make the change

The photo at the top of this post? That’s butterflies emerging from their chrysalises. Whether what’s confining you is stress or something else, such as lack of the confidence to break free, surely it’s worth trying to achieve your potential and seeing what you can do … if you just break out of the chrysalis.

My advice to you, if you think you’re stressed, or you don’t think you’re stressed but your body does …

  • Think about what you REALLY want. Is the money worth it? Yes, we all need money to live on, yes, economic times are perilous, but if you can save anything ahead of changing your lifestyle, do it.
  • Think about what you enjoy, what you need, and work towards claiming it.
  • Talk to close friends or colleagues. How do they see your stress levels? What solutions can they offer?
  • Talk to a reputable life coach or careers counsellor. What ideas do they have?
  • Mind-map, brainstorm, go walking for a week, whatever it takes to give you space to think this through.
  • Seek mentors and role models. People have told me my blog posts have helped them on their path to self-employment (hooray!) – look around for people doing what you might fancy doing, and drill down into how they did it.
  • Think laterally. Do you really want to be an architect, or do you want to work for a housing association? Do you really want to be a social worker, or do you want to train as a counsellor? Could you work part time while you pursue your aims?

My “career path”, from corporate ladder-climber to “just a library assistant” to successful small business owner shows that you can step down, sideways, whatever. I’m not a risk-taker, I’m not particularly well-off, and it hasn’t always been easy. But it can be done.

Good luck!

 
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Posted by on May 16, 2012 in Business, New skills, Organisation

 

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Me or myself?

14 May

I find that I and other people wince a bit when we see myself used, as it commonly is, in a seeming attempt to sound more formal, or managerial, or literary, or, well, something. We’ve all seen it – “If you have a problem, please contact myself”. Keep it simple is the rule here: “If you have a problem, please contact me”. There is a place for myself, but it’s a smaller, more precise place than people may imagine.

OK, I’m ranting a bit now; let’s just look at the rules for this one …

Myself is the reflexive first person singular – used by the speaker to refer to themselves as the object of a verb or preposition when he or she is the subject of the clause as well – “I picked myself up from the ground and continued on my way”, “I got myself dressed in time for the video call with my important client”. It’s also used in an emphatic way for I or me, emphasising that something was done personally by the speaker: “I didn’t go to the hairdresser, no: I cut my hair myself”. These, really, are the only times we use myself.

Me is the nice, plain, simple first person singular, used by the speaker to refer to him/herself as the object of a verb where someone else is the subject: “He gave the job to me”; “Please contact me or Linda if you need this work to be done”.

If you’re doing something to yourself, you can use myself. If someone’s doing it to you, you need to use me. “I cleaned myself up after I grazed my knees”/”I cleaned myself”; “Gill cleaned me up after I grazed my knees”/”Gill cleaned me”. Clear now?

Don’t get mixed up with themself/themselves and me/I, while we’re on this topic of how to refer to people …

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 14, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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Devise or device?

11 May

There are lots of other word pairs with an -s- and -c- (practise/practice, advise/advice) that are differentiated by the fact that one is a verb (the -s- one) and one a noun (the -c- one). These two have become slightly more separated and slightly less confused, I feel (but maybe you’ve found differently).

To devise is a verb meaning to plan or invent something (usually something such as a process, procedure or mechanism that is quite complicated). “He devised a route to get from Manchester to Birmingham, not using any motorways”, “The clockmaker devised a mechanism for making a watch show the time in 15 different time zones”.

A device is a noun meaning a piece of mechanical or electronic equipment made for a particular purpose (“He constructed a device for making American recipes using English measuring instruments”), or a plan, trick or scheme (and, by extension, a form of words that’s intended to produce a particular effect: “She used a metaphorical device to explain quantum mechanics in her astounding poem”).

So, you could, indeed, devise a device, but I don’t think you’d want to, simply because of the cumbersome repetition (just like you don’t practise practices!).

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 11, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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My short cuts – how to change your text from upper case to lower case

09 May

This is part of my series on how to avoid time-consuming “short cuts” and use Word in the right way to maximise your time and improve the look of your documents.

Sometimes you really want to change a sentence from, maybe, all lower case to All Title Case, or ALL CAPITALS to all lower case, or some other variant.

And you know how to do it, right: delete the sentence and retype it, or delete the first letter of each word and retype it, or turn on overtype then forget to turn it back to insert when you’ve finished … well, there is a way to just do it with a couple of keystrokes!

How do I change all small letters to all capitals or all capitals to all lower case letters?

This is such a simple one. Highlight your sentence (1). With the sentence still highlighted, press shift and F3 at the same time. Magic! With each press of shift-F3 it will cycle through Title Case (2), UPPER CASE (3) and then back to lower case (4).

This is so useful if you’re grappling with a bibliography you’ve written or you’re editing (especially when the capitalisation in article or book titles is not consistent), or if you accidentally type something all in capitals.

Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Word currently in use – Word 2003, Word 2007 and Word 2010, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Word should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!

Find all the short cuts here …

 
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Posted by on May 9, 2012 in Copyediting, Errors, New skills, Short cuts, Word, Writing

 

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Adviser or advisor?

07 May

This one has come up a few times and so I am sure there are a few people out there who are confused when trying to choose between using advisor or adviser.

So, which is it to be? I think people may think that advisor is more formal (even posher) in some ways, and it’s definitely used more in official documents and marketing-ese.

But in reality, this is another pair that means exactly the same. Adviser or advisor: just pick one!

What I would say (and what I always say), is be consistent. If you introduce a mortgage advisor on page 1, make sure they haven’t changed into a mortgage adviser by page 4!

Oh: but it’s always advisory (not advisery, which isn’t a word) when you’re talking about having the power to make recommendations (but not to enforce them, interestingly). “The panel is operating in an advisory capacity and cannot force the employees to wear baseball caps”.

I personally prefer advisor. What do you think?

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on May 7, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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Tone Hitchcock

05 May

Welcome to Saturday Business chat. In a first for the series, we’ve got a brother-sister combination! Last week I featured Annabelle Beckwith, and now it’s the turn of her equally talented brother, Tone Hitchcock, of Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design. I met Tone at about the time I met Anna, so he would have been 16 or so at the time. I heard about his work through Anna over the years, went to an opening night of some wonderful paintings he had exhibited, and met up with him a few months ago when he came to “visit” the fibreglass gorilla he’d made that was on display in Digbeth Coach Station. Models he’s made appear on the TV and in films, and it’s great to watch the inventive and marvellous things he produces. Let’s find out how he got started …

What’s your business called? When did you set it up?

Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design. I know, it’s not the snappiest of titles, but it does what it says on the tin. I’ve been doing this since 1997, sometimes part-time, now mostly full time. Unofficially, it’s “Purveyor of Props, Paintings and Peculiarities”.

What made you decide to set up your own business?

I decided to set up for myself as I’d spent most of my time at Uni doing artwork and playing in various bands anyway, rather than concentrating on my English degree. Pretty much the only person I could find willing to employ me when I graduated was me, so it seemed like a good idea.

What made you decide to go into this particular business area?

Art has always been my first love; I’ve been selling paintings since I was 14. I started commercially by doing illustrations and caricatures; it snowballed from there.

Had you run your own business before?

A friend of mine and I at school had run a t-shirt printing business from our study, if that counts … [Liz: yes, of course it does!]

How did you do it? Did you launch full-time, start off with a part-time or full-time job to keep you going … ?

I’ve had a couple of full-time stints at this, and, as I said, I am now pretty much full-time again, but for a long time, I had various part-time jobs as well to keep me ticking over. I’ve worked in a few different shops, done kitchen and bathroom design, worked in a warehouse, done stock control for the Roman Baths shops; whatever it took, really!

What do you wish someone had told you before you started?

I wish someone had told me to concentrate on prop and modelmaking 15 years ago!

What would you go back and tell your newly entrepreneurial self?

I would like to go back and tell myself not to lose faith; it’s never easy trying to make a living artistically, but when it does start to come together, it makes the hard times fade away, and it all becomes worthwhile.

What do you wish you’d done differently?

I took a sculpting course in late ’97, whereas before I’d mainly concentrated on 2D artwork. It felt really natural to me, but I was already committed to trying to make a go of it with paintings. I remember wondering if I should make the switch to 3D work instead, but I decided against it. I don’t generally dwell on “what if?” contemplation, but still … in this case, it might have got me further along sooner.

What are you glad you did?

To be honest, even all the rubbishy part-time roles I’ve had have given me something useful, even if it was just experience. Heck, even my wasted youth making Lightsabers out of old bits of Hoover tube has come in useful, as it gave me the perfect skillbase for making the collapsible armature for my latest commission!

What’s your top business tip?

DON’T GIVE UP! And also, tailor what you do to the market. As an artist, it is quite tempting to throw a bit of a hissy fit, and go “But this is my muse! People must appreciate it and buy my work!”

Well, I love melancholy landscapes and bleak atmospheres, but apparently the general art-buying public isn’t keen enough on them to pay for my living. Talent doesn’t guarantee you a career – the old adage about success coming from 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration is true.

How has it gone since you started? Have you grown, diversified or stayed the same?

Following on nicely from the last question, my success rate increased exponentially as soon as I started being less precious about what I do, and started listening more to what other people advised (particularly my wife, but don’t tell her that or she’ll become insufferable).

I’ve always made models as a bit of a sideline, hence the lightsabers, but I’d never really taken it seriously. Three years ago, I made a Wookiee mask for a friend’s birthday, and everyone that saw it asked why I wasn’t doing prop and modelwork all the time. As the only answer I could come up with was a rather sheepish “errr…”, I started scouting around for that kind of work, which lead me on to freelancing at Codsteaks Prop and Model Workshop in Bristol. It’s gone on from there.

Where do you see yourself and your business in a year’s time?

This time next year, Rodders, we’ll be miwionaires … or at least, doing model and prop work more consistently so that Bryony, my wife, can lessen the amount of hours she works.

What a talented pair of siblings Anna and Tone are. And what a lot of different areas of inspiration they offer to other freelancers and entrepreneurs. Never give up, learn from your mistakes, do what you have to in order to sustain your business idea … things we can all learn, whether we train people or make eels for a living! Oh, look – I’ve interviewed their cousin, Sam, too!

Tone’s 2013 update is here!

This is one website that you MUST go and look at, for all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures and beautiful paintings: find Anthony Hitchcock Art & Design at www.tonyhitchcock.co.uk. You can, of course, email Tone or call him on 07929 272 513, especially if you’d like to commission a painting or sculpture. Or an eel.

If you’ve enjoyed this interview, please see more freelancer chat, the index to all the interviewees, and information on how you can have your business featured.

 
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Posted by on May 5, 2012 in Business, New skills, Small Business Chat

 

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Businesses: be careful when marketing around the Olympics!

04 May

No Olympic logos here!

If you’re a business operating in the UK, it’s so tempting to think you can pin some of your marketing and advertising on certain summer sporting events. But be careful – the Games’ Marks are very carefully protected, and you can run into big trouble if you break the rules!

It may seem a bit harsh, but events do need to protect the investment of their sponsors, and this includes making sure that companies that haven’t paid for sponsorship don’t profit as much as those who have.

Thinking about it on more local terms, if you’ve bought kit for your local football team, and you go along to the match to see your company logo all over their kit, you’d be really annoyed to find a rival company at the gate, giving away merchandise with their information plastered all over it, but without any official status or paying for the privilege. Well, it’s really the same here.

There’s lots of information on this official website so I won’t repeat it. What I will repeat is: be careful. Just as you wouldn’t infringe other copyright, “borrowing” the typeface or logos of the market leader in your sector to confuse potential clients and drive them to buy your products, so you need to keep away from pushing the Olympic angle, unless, of course, you are an official sponsor or partner. Keep aware of the Games’ Marks and be careful, and you’ll be fine. Try to muscle in on the action, and you might find yourself with a hefty punishment.

*Note: I’m not trying to cash in myself with this post! I have had to mention this issue to a couple of my clients recently, so it seemed worth summarising it all in a more public place.

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2012 in Be careful, Business, Ethics

 

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What I got up to in April

02 May

Welcome to my April round up of what I’ve been getting up to. Do you find these round-up posts interesting? Would this series be better on my Libro Full-Time Blog? Do leave a comment, click on the share buttons or share my notifications on various social media locations!

Being self-employed full time

I was pretty busy for most of April and had to abandon a few attempts to get to networking events, but I did manage to make it to the Elizabeth Taylor Day in Reading and the BookCrossing meetup in town. I’m also much better at not worrying if it’s a quiet week. If it is quiet, I make sure I get some rest, catch up with my reading or work on my research project, rather than fretting.

Editing, writing, transcribing and proofreading

I’ve been busy with a variety of projects throughout April.

I started off the month finishing a batch of transcriptions for the international organisation I work for regularly. I also helped to recruit a few more transcribers for them, as I’m ideally placed to tell people EXACTLY what it’s like and make sure their expectations are set (“so, you’re going to be typing like a maniac for 8 hours a day, listening to non-native speakers of English talking about international affairs and taking their presentations down in a way that turns them into native English …”)

I did more work with my Master’s students including some pretty intense work to get their essays finished off for the beginning of the summer term, as well as proofreading other essays and dissertations for the student proofreading company I work for. In fact, looking back, it’s been a lot about the students this month!

I didn’t do a lot of writing for clients this month, but I did manage to finish writing my e-book (How I Conquered High Cholesterol) which is now in beta-testing and will shortly be available via Amazon.

I did a fair bit of US to UK English localisation for a couple of my clients, including working on a technical manual for some medical equipment, which was unusual and interesting! I do like the intellectual challenge of working out what “we” would say in a given situation, although I have to go off and refocus my mind when swapping between the two languages!

I’ve helped one regular client start to shape some blog posts into book form by editing them for consistency and taking out all the redundant bits, and I’ll be doing more editing for her in the coming month or so.

I’ve worked with the usual translators, too, of course – most of my clients are ongoing regulars now, which I like a lot!

Blogging and tax

I would be amazed if anyone didn’t know that I’d done my tax return in April (but here’s why, including the full horror of Going On To Payment On Account). Anyway, I know where I stand and what I’ve got to pay in tax this year, that’s all set aside and I’ve given myself the balance, so all set for a slightly less constrained year.

I’ve continued adding to my series of articles about using Word and my series of interviews with fellow small businesses , and I decided to put together a resource guide to the information to be found on my blog for businesses, students and Word users.

I published another five-sentence monthly newsletter – do sign up here for a quick read!

In more sociable news, I helped at the city centre Social Media Surgery session, and attended Social Media Cafe as usual (I wouldn’t miss that for the world). Finally, over on the Libro full-time blog I’ve added a few new resolutions to my list for Home Workers!

Coming up – transcription madness

I’m booked in for more transcription from late May into June, so I’ll turn into a hermit then (but I can’t wait to find out what happens to all the ongoing projects the organisation is working on!). Until then, I’m currently working on a rather technical geology text as well as the usual ongoing student, translator and editing bits and bobs.

Libro offers copyediting, copy writing, proofreading, transcription, typing and localisation services to other small businesses, individuals and corporations. Click on the links to find out more!

 
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Posted by on May 2, 2012 in Blogging, Business, Copyediting, Jobs, proofreading, Transcription, What Do I Do?, Writing

 

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Advise or advice?

30 Apr

There are lots of other word pairs with an -s- and -c- (for example, practise/practice) that are differentiated by the fact that one is a verb (the -s- one) and one a noun (the -c- one). This one gets mixed up just as much, so it’s time to talk about it!

Advise is the verb. It means to offer advice to or to recommend. “‘I would not advise you to climb the steep face of the mountain: walk up the slope, instead,’ said John.”

Advice is the noun. It’s what’s advised: a recommendation or guidance offered with respect to future actions by the person being advised. “We took John’s advice, and took the easy way up the mountain.”

It should become easier to remember these once you have established that (in UK usage):

The word with the s is the verb, and involves doing something

The word with the c is the noun, and involves the thing itself.

You can find more troublesome pairs here and the index to them all so far is here.

 
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Posted by on April 30, 2012 in Errors, Language use, Troublesome pairs, Writing

 

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New ways to navigate the resources on the Libro blog

27 Apr

I’ve built up loads of information on all sorts of topics on this blog over the past few years, so I thought it was time to put together a resource to help you find what’s most useful for you. I ran a poll, people said yes, so I did it!

I put this new guide together about a week ago, and it’s proved popular so I thought I’d let you know about it quickly.

I’ve put together one simple resource guide with three main sections:

  • Resources for business – these include posts on how to set up a small business, things to do to grow your business, hints on networking, motivation, etc.; then some information about tax and finally an additional link to my small business interviews (note that business formation and tax posts are relevant to the UK although the rest of it will translate anywhere)
  • Resources for students – how to write an essay or dissertation, plagiarism and quoting sources, and lots more to come
  • Resources for Word users – all sorts of tips and hints to make your documents more consistent and easy to write, change and navigate, including tabs, margins, headings, contents pages and more obscure matters like how to put text in alphabetical order. Also includes a few notes on PowerPoint and other applications,

The whole resource guide offers a good way to find out what you need to know – do have a look and a play around, and let me know if you’ve found anything particularly useful!  I’ll be adding both resources and entries to the resource guide as I go along, of course. Watch this space …

And of course, we still have the index to the Troublesome Pairs and index to all the Saturday Small Business Chat posts.

I hope you enjoy the resource guide and indexes, and the resources they guide you to!

 
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Posted by on April 27, 2012 in Business, Copyediting, Errors, Ethics, New skills, Organisation, proofreading, Short cuts, Small Business Chat, Students, Troublesome pairs, Word, Writing

 

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