Creative work

HP35 said:

I support myself writing articles / blog posts / product descriptions.

Impressive.

Billy87 said:

plus bosses expectations of me which I never understand and the pressure of constant social interaction all day

Absolutely.

I was lucky enough to be in a position to stop working in my 50s, in 2015.

I never get bored, love photography + its related artwork, making sculptures from seashore finds, reading, gardening etc.

Billy87 said:

I wonder if us autistic people are more suited to creative jobs where we can be our own boss. Does anyone else every find this?

I don't know if creativity is an autistic thing, but I know that I was singularly unsuited to the regimented world of work.

I worked from the age of 18 (post 'A' levels) to 53 in administrative roles.

It was very stressful, full of constant anxieties, both with regard to the job itself and especially with regard to social interaction.

I was frequently bullied and was made redundant 3 times.

The majority of this period I was single so I didn't have another person to fall back on for support.

I realise now that my several 'meltdowns' or 'breakdowns' whilst working were probably autism lead.

Being very very anxious about interviews, my last few years were spent in long-term agency work, where interviews aren't so much a 'thing'.

I hope you can find a better way forward and wish you all the very best.

I can see where you’re coming from entirely with this and I have often wondered about this myself.

For me, I enjoy routine a lot. I struggle without it to be honest. So that aspect works in my favour, but 5 days a week is a bit of a stretch. I honestly think my productivity drops significantly on the 5th day (as does many peoples). A four day week would be much more preferable- and productive!

I also struggle with 5 days, as 2 days to switch off isn’t even enough to get into that new mindset of relaxing! By the time I have, I’m back at work!

But the main worry for me is that if I were to set my own hours and my own schedule, I think I would overthink it and really worry if I didn’t stick to it. I’d fee the pressure of organising myself, as well as completing the work, and therefore effectively be doubling the amounts of things I had to think about. I’d either burn out quicker, or just not manage to work enough. I’d probably put so much time into making ‘the perfect schedule’ that I’d be exhausted by the time I landed on it. Or I’d invest so much that I’d then be worried to deviate, even if it were more effective to do so. That’s just me though, and they are only my thoughts on the matter, as I have no experience in being self-employed or working in a more flexible role. 

I do work for myself but it became overwhelming several years back and I'm barely keeping up! The admin, file 'management', data is difficult enough. Networking and finding new clients is even harder. I'm not sure a different industry would fix these 2 problems, and I'm quite confused about what a good solution would be... 

I write from home for a living.

I support myself writing articles / blog posts / product descriptions. Usually the client gives me an outline, keywords and location and I write about their services, which are often something mundane like plumbing or dentistry. Then I rewrite it another few times to cover all locations, ensuring each time that the phrasing is unique enough to not be flagged by Google as duplicate content. It's easy and it pays, but it's not very creative.

I also write short stories for magazines. Pay is about £20-100, often for 20+ hours of work. Less than half the stories I write end up getting published. It's very satisfying but on its own could never pay my bills.

The less said about my novel the better!

I was self employed for many years as the stress of trying to align with the ideas and work ethics of others just made me explode. I have always drawn/painted/played music as a way of focusing my hectic mind. After being diagnosed as an adult the past fell in to place. It also seemed to explain, to me anyway, why I reacted to creative stimulation like I did. My work was always very generic, never emotional which got me “some” recognition (very lucky). I can only speak from my own experiences but if writing is something you think you should do then go for it. It’s what gives you a balanced life that matters. My friends say they can tell when I’ve completed a song, poem or painting because I’m much more tolerable to be around. 

I know that I would personally struggle with working to a regimented timetable, particularly because I never know how I'm going to be feeling (physically and mentally) from one day to the next.

When I was in my 20s, I took on a job as an Avon Cosmetics rep. The money I earnt wasn't enough to live on as at most I only had about 20 customers. I did that job for approximately 10 years, and I think the only reason I stuck at it for as long as I did was due to me feeling in control of the hours I worked.

For autistic people who are creative, I am inclined to agree that we probably are better suited to jobs where we can be our own boss.

I dont know about creativity but when I'm off work my circadian rhythms follow a more natural pattern for me which isn't waking up at the crack of sparrows. There's something completely unnatural about being shocked awake every morning by an alarm. Is it any wonder people start the day on high alert. I did some evening work last year and I felt much calmer travelling to work in the opposite direction to everyone coming home and the expectation felt different to daytime work. And far fewer people about in work. I just think in this day and age, with more flexible working, there should be far more adjustments to allow people to do their job in the best environment and time of day for them. If we are more comfortable and less anxious surely that would make more productive workers. 

I have a "normal" job two days a week. I have worked more days per week, but I struggle with it, although the problem is more exhaustion than the structure per se.

I've written various articles that have been published professionally and semi-professionally, but I find it hard to pitch ideas, network and promote myself (not great autistic skills). I also prefer to write about things that interest me, which are not often what interest editors. I have written and self-published a non-fiction book about Doctor Who. I also wrote a novel, but I couldn't find an agent for it. Then I became dissatisfied with the novel and thought about a massive re-write, but am too focused on a couple of other fiction projects to do that at the moment. I'd love to be a professional or even semi-professional writer, but I'm really not sure it's going to happen because of those practical skills that I don't have.