But in this economy, job security is almost non-existent.  In case you get laid-off, what will you do with your time?  You can of course become a fully-pledged freelance designer, wherein you can sub-contract work from other people and companies.  But this kind of outsourcing-business model is not as easy as it seems.  It takes a lot of determination.

Some talented folks that I know have become less productive when they had more time due to the unfortunate company downsizing.  Previously, they were juggling between a day job and their own design practice, trying to find time for their own studio work after office hours.  They were pretty productive.  They were on a roll.

But now that there’s no day job, even their own studio work suffered.  Not as productive as before.  I guess, for most it’s the side effect of freedom.  There’s a lot more time to sleep in, not having to worry about work.  For some, it’s the stress of not having a regular, and to others it’s the lack of routine that gets them down.

Once we are in constant motion, we tend to be more productive.  When we start to stagnate, it is more difficult to focus on the task at hand, even though we might have more time on our hands.

One underlying problem is the lack of motivation, the drive to move forward and succeed.  It is very difficult to be motivated in times of (economic) trouble.  Yet we must struggle to get our focus back on track.  Keeping a positive outlook is essential.

In the end, it’s our determination that will lead to success.  A little bit of talent might be useful though.

Twig broom and dust pan (Photo by Adam Baker)

There is a lot of misconception about outsourcing.  A lot of people think that it is evil.  I disagree.  Just look around you and you will notice that a vast amount of activities are being outsourced, in one form or another.

Sample activities that are outsourced (or subcontracted):

1. Cleaning services

2. Gardening/landscaping

3.  Electrical installations

4. Printing services

5. Audio & Video Editing

6. Photography

7. Design services (graphics, web, products)

8. Writing

Outsourcing gives a lot of freedom to the outsourcer, and they in turn can focus on more of their core-business, which in turn will bring better profit, and will eventually generate more jobs in the community.  A lot of these outsourced jobs cannot be sent overseas, because they need the physical presence of labor, thus jobs won’t be diminished.

Sending jobs abroad is called “Offshoring”, which is a form of outsourcing.  A lot of IT jobs and customer service (call center) jobs are being sent overseas, which benefits a lot of companies here in the US because as I mentioned before, they can focus more on their core business and income-generation.  This can be good enonomics for both countries.

There’s a number of off-shoring advocates out there.  One particular example is Tim Ferriss, who wrote a book called 4-Hour Workweek, that outlines his strategy of having a personal assistant overseas.  Now I haven’t read the book, and I’m not suggesting you do that either.  My point is, the channels for outsourcing is virtually unlimited, and in fact people are using it.