Calls on calls on calls

This past month has felt like a lot of realisations, anxiety, and imposter syndrome, all at once.

Mostly because of money, time, and trying to understand what I want my days to look like.

This is my weekly space to reflect on the transition to freelancing and building a life that feels right and fulfils my potential. Do tag along:

What happened over the past month

The idea when I announced I had two months left at my full-time job was to put it out there and take it slow.

Wrap up final projects, go on vacation, take a breather… then start reaching out to clients and creating content.

But here’s how it actually went (and I’m very, very grateful — but also a bit overwhelmed 😅):

• I shared the news on LinkedIn

• Got ~20 personal messages asking what I’m looking for

• 7 potential clients asked to chat (!!)

• I’ve sent out 3 proposals, 1 content partnership, 2 offers, and even invoiced a client already

• I had 5 calls in 2 days last week and have 10 (!) calls next week, on top of full-time work 😱

So yeah.

I guess investing in LinkedIn content a year ago was a great idea.

But I’m asking myself 3 things:

1. Is my life now just calls calls calls now?

I do love meeting people and mentoring others. But I also always wanted flexibility — and space to create. Am I leaving enough room for that?

2. Will I have the courage to say no?

What if the project pays really well? What if it’s with a founder or marketer I really wanna help? Will I still be brave enough to say no, because I need to protect time for my own content, learning, and rest?

3. What would my ideal week actually look like?

I enjoy calls — but when I have too many, the whole day becomes about prepping, chatting, and follow-ups. No deep work, no writing. Should I start blocking out “no call” days? Probably.

What also happened:

• I shared that I want to learn how to build AI agents — and a founder of an AI agent SaaS offered to give me a 1:1 walkthrough! We’ll turn it into a content collab so I can share the recording with you. I love LinkedIn.

  
  

  

  
  

• I wrote and published my first 3 case studies on Contra (my actual website is… still “in development” aka untouched for many months lol). Another project for August.

• I became a GrowthMentor, meaning I now offer free marketing & Notion consultations (click the referral link for a free consultation with any mentor you like)— and now have 2–3 mentorship calls a week! <3

  
  

  

  
  

• I'm speaking at a Notion community event next week (17th) in Berlin, sharing how I use Notion to plan events. Come if you’re around!

• I’ve been connecting with some freelance marketers for advice on pricing, contracts, proposals, and setting boundaries (thank you so much Nicola, Alice, Irina, Xan, Falk, Lelde, Anete ❤️). It’s been so helpful to not feel alone in this.

One thing I’m realising is:

Freelancing & Solopreneurship is 30–40% client work.

The rest is:

Admin, accounting, writing proposals, gathering feedback, posting, invoicing, mentoring, content creation, learning new tools, and setting up systems.

I know this should all get easier once I have proper processes in place.

But right now it’s… a lot to juggle all at once.

So I’m really looking forward to my vacation in August.

I went freelance because I wanted space. To learn. To write.
To build something meaningful. Now I need to protect that space.

One example: I may have to say no to ghostwriting work (even though it’s the thing I’m certain I’m good at).

Not because I don’t like writing, but because writing for others can be creatively draining and very time consuming with all the back-and-forths.

What excites me more is setting up content systems with clients, mentoring, guiding and giving them all the tools for them to do the job really well.

I could probably make more money by ghostwriting. But I feel like it’s just not a impactful. It doesn’t feel as fulfilling, too.

5 helpful tools I’ve (re-)discovered this month

• Contra – recommended by my friend Alice. You can send offers, find jobs, and publish case studies. The cool thing: no platform fees if a client books you (but to send out proposals etc you need

• Accountable – recommended by Lelde. For handling the German tax system, wich feels like a massive black hole right now. Getting this soon to help with finances. The cool thing is that with a subscription you can actually get advice from tax advisors (it’s not just a software).

• Esignatures.com – 0.50€ per digital contract. Easy and cheap digital signatures. Bless.

• Metricool – I love scheduling content. Best feeling ever to me is when I forgot to post, but then see I actually didn’t forget because I scheduled it. Amazing.

• Cal.com - People can choose time in my calendar for a call, and because I calendar block religiously it’s been working quite well. You can also set how often an event can be booked per week/ day (Discovery calls, Interviews, Coffee Chats, Client Calls, Consultations). And, it’s free.

Before I go, I have a prompt for you this week

Have you ever asked yourself:

What would my ideal week look like?

So that I feel energised, alive, excited about what I do, dare I say...
proud of myself?

Have a think.

And do share your thoughts, I’d love to hear them 🫶

Chat soon,
Maria