As we near the end of the year, you may find yourself checking in with your freelance business to take a look at what you’ve been up to and where you want to go in the coming New Year. (hashtag New Year Things.) Honestly, I find this time of year both inspiring and empowering when it comes to navigating the freelance life.  

I have an employee who hasn’t been performing well. Last week, she was out sick again and I needed a report. I tried to call her, but she didn’t answer. So, I asked IT if I could get the report from her email, and they gave me access to her inbox. I found the report, but curiosity overcame me, and I opened a few other emails. I feel totally guilty — I snooped. Is this legal? Is it moral? What do I do with this information?

Ethan Martin didn’t take a traditional path to his position as director of user strategy for local digital creative agency Bukwild. In his younger years, he thought he’d map and maneuver challenging ski runs around a mountain town for a living. Instead, as an adult, he finds himself navigating design challenges for a digital creative agency in Old Sacramento.

My assistant “Jane” has a reduced work week, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. I agreed to this when she was hired. However, two years later, I now need her to work more hours. I don’t need or want to hire an additional person — I just need her to work an 8-hour day. But she doesn’t want to. What can I legally do?

Stella Premo, executive director of the Capital Region Family Business Center based in Roseville, offers her insight into how her organization works to better serve the unique challenges of family businesses.

Mariann Eitzman has been in the workforce for several decades now, and her resume is long and varied. Currently the Next Steps Director for Bayside Adventure in Roseville, which is the organization’s newest church campus, she’s in charge of connecting new churchgoers to each other and to the new and continuing programs at the 3,000-attendee congregation.

On a sunny August afternoon at Selland’s in East Sacramento, I had the pleasure of sharing some French press coffee with Kevin Rahm. You probably know him as Lee McDermott from Desperate Housewives, Ted Chaough on Mad Men or maybe even as your neighbor.

Among the many, many things that the Census Bureau asks in the annual American Community Survey, the 2016 results of which were released last week, is this: How did this person usually get to work last week? 

Pivot. By definition, this means to “turn on or as if on a pivot,” when used as a verb. Synonyms include “rotate” and “turn.” I’ve been experiencing my own pivot recently as I’ve switched gears in my freelance life.

I recently made an offer to a new director of communications for my company. However, I then found out this individual had posted to Facebook asking friends for feedback on two job offers — one for my company and another for a local competitor. I was horrified and I want to remove my offer. Any advice on how to tactfully prevent this from happening in the future?

Stop what you’re doing — which is probably a lot, all at once. As it turns out, experts say multitasking drains your brain power and dilutes the quality of your work.  Luckily there’s a solution: Start mono-focusing. 

What if we’re doing it all wrong? What if instead of trying to do 37 things at once, we just try and do one thing at a time — what some productivity experts call either “mono-tasking,” “mono-focus” or “uni-tasking”— and do the job well?

Believe it or not, it’s possible to make a living as an artist in Sacramento. All it takes, according to those who’ve succeeded, is a base of communication, community, willingness to treat your work as a business and a good share of bull-headed persistence.

Comstock’s reached out to Lennee Eller, interim director of the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, for her advice on how artists can improve their chances of success. Here’s what she had to say.

Anyone who has applied for a job before understands the dilemma of having an incongruous mix of work history on your resume, reflecting a career shift that has occurred somewhere along the line.

Let’s celebrate all of our Capital Region-based freelance colleagues who are doing this day in and day out. Freelancing is all about freedom and flexibility, but it’s also challenging — with dry spells and the typical ups and downs of being a small business owner.

The Waffle Experience isn’t just another waffle house with packaged waffle batter and the usual breakfast fare. Instead, Donoho has taken his training in classical cuisines and worked to change the perception of how customers view the traditional belgian-style waffle.