Half a Step Over

To Commute Is the Question

I work as a freelance editor. Most of the time, I work from home, although I have a couple of clients who I visit on a regular schedule—and based on their workload. I also live in northern New Jersey, in an area where it takes at least two trains, each way, to get someplace. That’s why I freelance.

I could get a staff job in New York City—they’ve been offered to me. I could even work only as a freelance there, but I’ve chosen not to. At this point in my life, currently considered middle age, I have made a conscious choice not to commute. And people always ask: Why? It’s because of those two trains, each way. Followed possibly by a subway since most firms aren’t that close to the train station. And because I’m an editor. There have been times when I went into a local office at 9 a.m., and came out at 11 p.m. How does that work if I take a train? I can take the train from my town between 7:30 and 8 a.m., and switch to another train in either Secaucus or Hoboken, just to get into the city. Unless the office is near the station, I’d then have to take a bus or a subway to the office, and then start to work. If I come out at 11 p.m., I’d have to do that in reverse, on off-peak trains, which means that there are fewer of them. And sit in moderately empty train station waiting areas until the train arrives. The thought of doing that makes me really tired. Actually, doing it would exhaust me within the week.

Yes, as a freelance I could say that I leave at 5 p.m. every day, but then I probably wouldn’t have the temporary gig. Because employers in my areas know that they can find other people to do what I do, whether better or worse doesn’t matter. And for those of you who say, let them get you a car to take you directly home, that’s not happening either. In fact, I’m hearing it doesn’t happen for many people with staff positions either. I know people who used to have that privilege, but in the last few years it’s gradually been eliminated. I’d be on my own. And even if I didn’t find the commute exhausting—because I’d still need to be in the office first thing the next morning—I think it’s an abuse of the employee to expect it.

So where do I work? I have a regular client for whom I’ll do 4-5 hours per day, and drive almost 45 miles each way for them. It’s not great, but I still control my transportation; the transit system doesn’t. I have another client who is only 25 miles away. For them, I’ve even gone in on a Saturday night. It’s not great, but the pay isn’t bad and I still get to control my transportation; it doesn’t control me. And because I can do that, sometimes I’m willing to go the extra mile for my client. One night, I was in the parking garage getting ready to leave and my phone rang. Could I come back in? They hadn’t realized that a big job had to be done that night (time management is not a good issue for them) and they desperately needed help. So, I went back in – and made another 4 hours worth of income. Sometimes being nice can pay off.

Then there was the Saturday night I worked on the launch of a new drug—when drugs are approved, most of the time the manufacturer wants to get it out there immediately in order to start to recover the millions that have already been spent in development and approval processes. Strangely enough, I had done so much freelance work on this that I was considered one of the “experts,” so I was the one asked to stay. It was the weekend that Daylight Savings Time ended, and one of the men walked me to the car just before 2 a.m., the time that the clocks change. I still kid them that I got home before I left because the time changed as I put the key in the ignition. It’s a good story—and true—and I’ve been dining out on it for a long time.

And Staying Home... 

The rest of my clients I deal with remotely, which means that I’ve taken status calls in my pajamas (not very often, but it’s happened), and I’ve put in a load of wash when I needed to stop staring at my computer screen. The convenience of working at home is, for me, great. If I want to take a break at 3 in the afternoon, I can. So long as I make my deadlines no one cares if I work in the middle of the night. And while I still have to wait for the work to arrive, I have the ability to manage my own deadlines, so if one job isn’t there, I fill in my time. And if the job arrives at 7 p.m., I can tell them I’ll do it in the morning. I’ve never had a client get really upset over that issue, but I have had clients beg me to do something on a really quick turnaround because they know they’ve caused the problem. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often – and at least I’m doing things I want to do while I wait on them rather than sitting at a desk in a cube thinking about what I could be doing.

I choose not to commute. For me, it works. If at some point I need more than freelance, the issue will be reconsidered. For now, anyone need me to find where their commas belong?