My work has been steadily increasing (the volume and pay!) since I began freelancing almost 2 years ago. Up to this point, it's all I could ask for. I was making money, learning the business, and taking most any job I could find.
It's been even better the past 6 months as my income, volume and the 'quality' of jobs have all gotten better, but as with everything, there's bound to be negatives. I literally had TOO MUCH work and I didn't do a good job of saying, "No, I can't make that deadline." Over the past month, I've finished multiple t-shirts, logos, medals, brochures, and illustrations (fullcolor and b/w) often staying up allnight for multiple days and averaging little sleep for weeks. I kept telling myself to keep going and I could handle it while ignorning how my body felt. It came to a head about a week ago while I was doing my 7-mile run - my joints ached, I had no energy, and my head throbed. By the next day, I had chills, fever, and stomach cramps that lasted throughout the night. The fever and cramps went away, but the headache has persisted for a week now. I've had headaches before, but none like this - it actually blurred my vision! Luckily I was coming to the end of my deadlines and had a few days to rest. I've probably averaged 10 hours of sleep a day over the past 4-5 days and my headache has slowly went away and hopefully after a few more days, I'll be cured!
From this point on, I have to do a better job of managing my time, learning how to say 'no', and not putting my work ahead of my health. I've gotten to the point where I can pick and choose my jobs and if I don't like it, I can pass. I may have learned a lot about the business side, but lost something that should be common sense - sleep is good!
