The Freelancer life

It’s been almost 7 months now since I’ve decided to resign from my job in a multinational company and decided to become a full-time freelancer instead. It’s been almost 7 months now that I’ve been working at home and I have to admit that I am kinda missing my office life. I quit my regular job in a company because I was sick and tired of having a boss, of following some silly office rules, of filing vacation leave that’s being approved only in the last minute because my boss was just too busy doing a lot of things. I quit my job simply because I didn’t feel happy anymore. I hate it when my travel plan and any other plan in life are ruined and being set aside only because my boss didn’t approved my vacation leave, and also because of some erratic work schedule. Masyado akong naistress sa buhay ko sa kumpanya. I’ve worked for more than 2 years in my previous job and I’ve been working in the corporate world for almost half a decade now, and before I resigned from my previous job, nagwowork na ako as part-time freelancer. Nagenjoy ako sa pagwork as part-time freelancer kasi sarili ko ang oras ko, and because of that nagdecide na ako na ifull-time na nga ang pagwork ko online or pagiging freelancer dahil na din sa pagod na din ako sa pagwork sa office setting.

Odesk.com

Freelancer.com

I am currently working as a web researcher, data entry personnel, and other stuff related to research. Right now, all of my contracts and clients are from odesk.com and freelancer.com. Wala pa akong nakukuhang contract from elance.com, guru.com or peopleperhour.com. Most of my jobs are home-based and most of the time I have that freedom to choose my working hours. I work anywhere. I work at home, at the mall, at the bus station, at the airport, at the pier, at the plaza, and anywhere that I want. Some of my friends envy me because I work at any place that I want. But I have to admit, working at home or working online is kind of boring sometimes. To be honest, right now, I am missing my officemates. I miss those moments na kinukulit ko ang mga officemate ko kapag nabobored na ako sa desk ko. I miss those moments na kukulitin ko sila na magbreak at ako ang madalas na dahilan kung bakit lagi kaming overbreak at sobrang madami kung makapagbreak. Namimiss ko yung mga moments na lagi akong may kasabay na kakain kapag lunchbreak, those moments when you will be sharing jokes and stories to your seatmate and officemate. Yung mga moment na you listen to all those stories, problems and experience ng mga kaofficemate mo. I miss those moments when after work, maglalakad kami ng mga officemate ko papunta sa ortigas para kumain or gumimik. I miss those moments. Hindi ko na kasi yun magawa ngayong full-time freelancer na ko.

You know, the life of a freelancer also have many sad moments. Most of the time I just work at home. I just sit all day with no one to talk to especially during those moments na nabobored na ako. You don’t have that seatmate na pwede mong kulitin. Most of time, most of the people that I talked to when I’m bored are those friend of mine who are online in Facebook or yahoo messenger or Skype. Most of the time, kausap ko na lang ang mga friends ko online. And when I’m having a quick break from work, nanunuod na lang ako ng tv or naglalakad lakad lang ako sa loob ng bahay. It’s kind of a lonely life you know. Most of the time I’m just alone. Even if I go to the malls para maiba naman ang setting, still, magisa pa din ako na magwowork online, kasi yung mga kaibigan ko busy din sa office nila or sa ibang bagay. I guess this is the price to pay sa pagwork at home or ng online job.

Elance.com

Guru.com

There are also a lot of good things about working online. Unang una, you don’thave a boss. Sarili mo ang oras mo. You also don’t need to file for a sick leave or vacation leave. You don’t need to follow office rules. You don’t need to wake up early or go to the office kapag tinatamad ka. Mas tipid din since hindi mo na kailangan magbyahe papunta ng office at tipid na din sa damit since pwede ka naman magtrabaho ng nakasuot lang ng pambahay. You can even work even if you’re just wearing underwear or nothing at all.hahahah! During a one-on-one meeting with a client, pwede ka humarap sa videocamera kahit na nakalongsleeve and necktie ka pero nakaunderwear ka lang.hahah! You can even talk to your client kahit na hindi ka pa naliligo or nagsisipilyo..heheh! Another advantage is the tax deduction. Since hindi naman malalaman ng BIR kung magkano ang kinikita mo, you can choose not to declare your income and not to pay the income tax. Or you can declare a low amount of income para mas mababa din ang income tax na babayaran mo. 

There are a lot of advantages of being a freelancer and these advantages are the reason I still choose to remain a full-time freelancer than to being an employee of those multinational companies.  Eventhough I miss my office life so much, and I miss my officemates, I’m  still gonna choose my freelancer life kesa sa employee life dahil mas less stressful and mas madami ang freedom ko sa freelancer life ko. So in short, kahit na namimiss ko ang office life ko at mga kaofficemate ko, mas gusto ko pa din ang buhay freelancer kasi nagagawa ko ang mga bagay na gusto kong gawin, lalo na ang pagtravel! So itry nyo din ang mga website na nabanggit ko, malay nyo, baka magustuhan nyo din. Goodluck!