Ey ! 

I used to work with my back facing the door. 

This was the view when you opened the door into my office.

It was also mostly dark as I was working on video projects that needed color grading.

I was grinding away at freelance projects all day, thinking I was doing the right thing—building a future, being the provider. 

I worked from home, but weirdly enough, I barely saw my family.

One afternoon, I was deep in work, my mechanical keyboard typing away, the fan humming in the background. 

My son, who was two at the time, was in the next room with my wife. The door was slightly open. Then I heard:

"Daddy!"

I thought he was just calling me, so I barely reacted.

But my wife said, "Where’s daddy?"

Huh? I was literally just right in the next room. So I turned around and went out of my office to check.

My son was pointing at a picture in his alphabet book—a cartoon of a guy sitting at a desk, back turned, working on a computer. 

It was actually meant for the letter C, computer. 

And, he was laughing happily.

"Daddy!" he said again, natuwa pa sya sa sagot nya.

And man, that hit me right in the gut.

I just sat there, staring at that picture. It took me a minute to process, but when it landed, it landed hard. 

That’s how he saw me—a back. A silhouette. 

Always turned away.

And so that weekend, I moved my desk. 

Flipped it so I’d be facing the door. Para whoever was outside looking in would see my face.

And more importantly, I changed how I worked. I wasn’t just going to grind endlessly— I was going to be efficient as hell so I could get in, get out, and actually be present.

Now? I'm able to put my son to bed at night. 

On top of being there for all of his events and milestones, we build Legos, model kits, tanks, experiments, and go biking, swimming, you name it. 

I drive him to school and pick him up instead of hiring someone, just so we get that time together.

Because if there’s one thing I know now—it’s that no deadline in the world is worth being just a blurred silhouette in your child's memory.

That was almost six years ago, but it's forever in my memory.

That simple picture book may be battered and gone, but it has taught me so much about what really matters. It's reshaped my entire approach to freelancing.

Here's what I realized: the true measure of freelancing success isn't your income or client list—it's the life you build around your work.

Too many freelancers fall into the trap I did. We start this journey for freedom and flexibility, then create our own prisons of endless tasks and back-turned silhouettes. We confuse being busy with being valuable.

The irony is that when I started working smarter rather than longer, my freelance business actually improved. Setting boundaries forced me to be more selective with clients and projects. I started charging what my time was truly worth, because I now understood its actual value.

I learned to treat my work hours as precious—because they were being traded for moments I could never get back.

Ask yourself this, :

If your loved ones—your spouse, children, or partner—were asked to describe you, what would they say?

Would they view you as someone who is always busy with work, or as a person who is consistently present and involved in their lives?

The beautiful thing about freelancing is that you get to design your life, not just your career.

But that design requires intention.

It requires saying no sometimes. It requires understanding that efficiency isn't just about getting more done—it's about creating space for what matters.

So today, I want you to look at your workspace, your schedule, and your priorities.

What simple change—like turning your desk around—might transform not just how you work, but how you live?

Shoden "No Longer Facing the Wall" San

P.S. Reply and let me know what you're changing. I'd love to hear it.

🎉

Pst. Don't Keep Me A Secret. refer this newsletter to your freelancer friends. This REALLY REALLY helps me a lot, thanks!