It’s funny; I started this post at the one-month mark of full-time working in the office. I never published it because it’s scatterbrained; I was finding my way, learning balance, and learning that, yes, I can wake up at 4:30 and run before work.
Exactly one year ago, I started a full-time job in an “office setting” at Edwards AFB. That was a huge change after years of not doing that (almost ten years, to be exact). That meant I couldn’t just sleep in when I wanted, work out when I wanted, or take trips whenever I wanted.
The last year has been challenging. Not the hardest of my life, but hard. Although when we found out my spouse was deploying last minute for six months, that did test me. In late June 2022, exactly one year ago, I started a new full-time job in an office. Previously and when we lived in New Jersey, I worked the floor of run specialty. The hours seemed slightly more relaxed, and it was “easy” to get a run before working 10-7.
During the two full years between living in New Jersey and working in the office, I freelance wrote, meaning my schedule was mine to create. That sounds like so many people’s dreams! Your schedule on your own time, making enough income to survive.
I learned that I no longer wanted to work weekends somewhere during that time. I wanted my weekends for me, especially now that I can’t just “pop into a race,” and it takes more planning; I want my weekends to be able to do that. In the last eight weeks, I’ve taken advantage of weekends and go at least 100 miles from the desert (most often to Los Angeles or San Diego but Northern CA, Seattle, or Las Vegas).
Like many people, the pandemic hasn’t been easy, and I’ve learned much about myself. I didn’t mind working at home, but I never loved it. When my husband was/is gone, I could go days without a heck of a lot of human interaction.
The other thing with freelancing is that your income is reliant on every month people hiring you. I couldn’t count on X amount of money each month; some months, it was less, and others, more. Ultimately, it balanced out, but it always stressed me out. I was stressed out if I wasn’t making monthly goals by mid-month (or had things planned out)! Plus, chasing money is so time intensive. I recently received a check for $1000 that I had been chasing since last September.
When we moved to the desert in the summer of 2021, I knew we would most likely be here for a while. I started applying for jobs that intrigued and interested me. I was “fine” with freelance writing but also craved an in-person job to challenge me. I craved something new. I didn’t keep my scope to Edwards Air Force Base; in fact, I applied for many more jobs that weren’t on the base.
And now, a year later, I’m so much happier with an in-person job. Not to say that every day is perfect or easy because it’s none of those things. My squadron is great. We are in charge of the tech library, training, and having the base mathematicians, computer programmers, and program managers. It’s likely the most diverse squadron on Edwards, but I appreciate that, and it keeps things super interesting and different every day.
Like running, I enjoy it most of the time. People ask me frequently if I’ll go back to full freelance writing, and the answer is probably not–for a few reasons…
- Often full-time freelance means that you are writing things you don’t want/care about. Right now, I can write about things I want to and be picky because it isn’t the only thing “paying the bills.”
- I am extroverted. I thought for the longest time I was introverted, but I’m not. Being around people 100% of the time is draining, but I don’t do well alone 100% most of the time, either. Plus, some of my coworkers have become my great friends.
Anyway, I don’t exactly know where this post was going, and like old-school blogging, just dumping my thoughts out there and not teaching anyone anything—happy one year of working in the office to me.
Question for you: Do you prefer working in or outside of the home?