I did not look for other work - really needed a break, and luckily cost of living in my country is pretty low so I could afford it.
2 months later I feel much better and I would like to get back to working, though I would like to have more direct control over how expectations and deadlines are set - so I thought that freelancing would be good way to get that.
I'm wondering if I am thinking in the right direction here, and also how the situation is on the freelance market currently, I did some reading up and I hear that AI has caused a lot of competition/spam on Upwork and other platforms.
Freelancing/consulting has unfortunately a lot of this. It helps if you start within your existing network, but once you branch out it gets stressful trying to please your clients.
What has worked for me is to work hard and fast. Deliver the results. Then take time out. This cycle works for me, because it typically takes some time to secure the next contract. When working on a contract, I don't have time to look for the next one.
How did you get your first contracting gig?
Well, the trick is really just faster. If you can do things at 2x the speed, you can charge 1.5x and clients will be very happy. And if things are done faster, you can layer on more quality things as well – tests, features, fancy backgrounds and animations, optimizations for low end devices, and so on.
People are often afraid that being too productive will make them run out of work. But with software, here's an endless amount of things to do. One of the more valuable things a contractor can do is help a profitable company with tech debt transition out of the tech debt. Eventually they become productive and take on tech debt because there's value to releasing new products as early as possible, and it's an endless cycle.
I hope you are doing better now health wise! Did you manage to get a less stressful gig for yourself?
Freelancing can feel chaotic right now, especially with the flood of AI-generated noise. But here’s something I’ve noticed: People who can calmly use AI to solve real, small, human problems — those people are still rare.
You already have solid engineering experience. If you combine that with one thing you like solving — like automating reports, or filtering client messages — that’s a strong start.
You don’t have to be flashy. You just have to be trustworthy.
You're not behind. You're arriving with clarity. That’s rare — and it matters.
I feel like someone is running an experiment on HN.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/05/reddi...
So I turned to AI to help me shape my thoughts more clearly and offer something meaningful to you. I am sorry if that was not the right way to go about it. I will be more mindful moving forward.