How did you quit your office job? (I need help as I'm sick of desk work)

R

Reelkid

Member
Hi guys,

I've come to realise that many people on this forum make their living by using their camera's and I'd just like to ask for guidance on how you finally managed to quit the job you hated?

I'm 22 and I love filmmaking, I write scripts when I get home, I shoot them when I can and surprisingly thousands of people like what I push out! I've also done a bit of professional work here and there and I have a stock footage library that can pay my rent every 4 months or so but most of my time is soaked up working 40 hours a week at a job I can barely take any more. I feel so unhappy and I want to make a change but I understand nothing's instant and if I want to quit it'll take time. I don't mean to sound like a defeatist but I'm not sure what to do, I've been at this job for well over a year now and I'm not sure how to get out. It's a well paid job and I'm grateful for it but my performance as of late is dwindling as I just can't find the motivation to carry out my job properly...does anyone have any advice?
 
There are numerous methods. One you might want to explore so that you are always working in your field and not switching gears all the time...start putting in resumes at places like local TV stations, wedding videography companies, local movie crews...anything. Even if its part time. Switch jobs...and then in all of your off time...be building your own thing. Tell your self now...that your gonna go ahead and welcome the 70 hour week. I know when I started my business, for the first 5 years, I was working, literally, all the time. Starting at 8am...often going to sleep at 2-3 am. Many nights just a few hours of sleep.

I was definitely aggressive about it. For me, that relentless drive made things happen. So glad I put in the time.

Good luck!
 
Another tip is to look at your personal budget and aggressively cut your expenses.

I've managed to make my dayrate-to-monthly-expenses ratio so favorable that I can make ends meet with only three or four days of work a month. I'm actually wondering if I've become so frugal that it has taken away the necessity of working hard, which might be making me lazy. I would rather be working from 8am to 2am every day like ReelWorksMedia above me.

There's nothing as motivating as necessity. I recommend networking for a few months while doing freelance gigs so you can be confident that some future work will come in. Then put in your two weeks notice at work. After that it's sink or swim. Good luck.
 
Performance dwindling after just a year on the job. I can understand if it is a lousy job. But on the other hand are you sure that you have the discipline and work ethic to start in a new profession. Working at local TV stations, wedding videography companies, local movie crews and being successful can be extremely hard work with long hours and little compensation starting out.
 
Probably not what you want to hear and I'm sure others have different stories.
But for me, the thing that worked was pure desperation. As long as I had another job
(in my case a day job as a staff shooter and editor for a TV station) it just didn't happen
for me. Maybe because I wasn't sufficiently motivated with another source of money
to fall back on. Maybe another one of about a hundred possible reasons.
There were other issues as well (my TV station frowned on me doing production
work 'on the side' as they saw it as me competing with the 'production company/TV
advertising arm of their station. In fact this is what led to me losing my job with them.)
As stated above....'nothing is as motivating as necessity!' Now I was working
shooting and editing for TV. Seems like a good thing because it was 'in the industry'.
But it paid horribly, and sucked 60 hours a week out of me. It demanded more and more
content be produced in the same amount of time until it affected the quality of what I
was able to put out. And the last thing I wanted to do when I got off work, was shoot
and edit more. When I lost that job, it was terrifying as I had no other skills and no
way to pay my bills! I started my freelance video business 'out of desperation.' As also
mentioned above, I cut back and cut back some more on all my expenses until I was
basically paying for food and housing and nothing more. All I had to do was book a
couple days a month and I could meet expenses. And for a long time, I was lucky
if I did book those two or three days a month. Barely made it some months.
But it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I was forced out of my
comfort zone and didn't have any other options.....I was 'all in.' And although
I did some production work 'on the side' for several years before this....the point
that I had no day job to fall back on, was when I really started being successful.
 
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Figure our your monthly expenses. Small things add up quickly. My rent is $1100/month - my friends, living only a few miles away in similar neighborhood, is $1800. It might sound that it's "only" $700 but in just one year it translates to over $8000 difference... That's a new high end camera every year! Make a list of all the stuff you spend your money on and see what is absolutely necessary: rent, phone bill, gas, electric, internet, food, maybe car and car insurance payments. Do you REALLY need anything else? Of course you do, i spent around $200/month on books - it's my hobby. For you it might be something else. I used to spend a lot on gear but cut down as my package became more complete (i still spend little here and there for small improvements). When you have your expenses in order then you will feel less stressed out about your income. As was mentioned above - in this field one should be able to make plenty to survive on by working 2-3 days a month (if your expenses are not extravagant).

That said, nothing that involves going outside of the norm (and freelancing most definitely is that) is safe or easy. So don't expect us to pat you on the back with "go do it, you WILL succeed!" This is a mental outlook that you have to be comfortable with - when you start freelancing you a "gypsy" never knowing when your proverbial next meal is coming from.

Something else needs to be said. When you reach the comfort of only working a few days in a month - you have to stay active and indeed pursue your dream. After all, this is what you are giving up the safety of your desk job for. You have to wake up everyday and "go to work" where you, your dreams and goals are your boss.
 
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