Daily circus act
You know that guy at the circus whose act is to spin plates? I never truly appreciated just what he accomplished – until now. Now I’m a freelancer. And I feel exactly like that guy. (I also feel like his stereotypically sexy assistant, who keeps putting more and more plates on those sticks for him to spin, grinning the whole time. I’m both of them combined in one person. As a company. Yeah, we’ll get to schizophrenia soon. Read on.)

As a freelancer, I not only juggle the additional “plates” of administrative duties alongside client jobs (as all freelancers do; and no, it’s not such a big deal). I also frantically try to keep the really shiny, new plates spinning: i.e. my goals for the future, projects I’m working on for myself at the moment, fun stuff I might make money off of one day, etc. (Dare to dream big, people!) Alongside this, I’ve taken on a teaching position – which adds about four more plates in itself – so you could say my hands are full.

Spinning while adding new plates
But not only that. As a freelancer, you try to keep the plates spinning while constantly adding new plates yourself. Sound crazy? It sort of is. On the one hand, it can make you feel slightly schizophrenic at times. On the other hand, you constantly get a feeling of empowerment and – heck, I’ll go ahead and say it – fulfilment while you’re working your ass off trying to look good for your audience, trying not to drop any plates.

See, the thing is: when you’re in the position of an employee, your boss is the one who is constantly adding on new plates for you to spin. And no matter how shiny the plate is – or appears to be –, after a while you can’t help but get pissed off at this annoying person who for some reason has control over your workflow and keeps adding plates to your act. You were just getting into the groove of things, and then there they go, adding on two plates at once! The nerve!

You’re in control
As a freelancer, however, you choose all of these plates yourself. And you choose wisely. You also choose when to add them to your act. Because if you should happen to drop a plate here or there, you’d have no one to blame but yourself. So it may seem like your struggling on stage, trying to keep all the plates in the air. But in reality, you’re just like the guy at the talent show: grinning, running around the stage from left to right, having a grand old time with the challenge itself. (Plus, as a freelancer, you have the added bonus of not only having a sexy assistant – you get to be a sexy assistant! When in your career were you ever allowed that position before?)

Stressed, but not struggling
So to sum up: if you should ask a freelancer how things are going and they say they’ve got a lot on their plate or their hands are full (see what I did there?), know that this is not the same stressed-out response you would get from an employee. If you’re doing anything right as a freelancer, you should be having fun trying to keep all the plates spinning. And remind yourself: the guy in the talent show act sometimes dropped a plate here or there, too.