I can’t believe I’m typing this, but we’ve made it to the final episode of The Modern Editor of 2025. Naturally, I decided to use this episode to reflect on what I’ve learned this year, both personally and in my business.

I could easily talk about all the things that went wrong and the goals I didn’t hit this year, but I want to focus on the good instead. Two things can be true at once: The world can feel like it’s on fire, and I can be excited about my business. I can feel proud of what I’ve built and also wish it were growing faster.

I think it’s important to hold space for the good and the bad, but celebrating the good doesn’t mean you're ignoring the bad. So without further ado, let’s celebrate the best of 2025.

• (4:07) Lesson One: The Importance of Systems
• (7:00) Lesson Two: It’s Okay for Priorities to Shift
• (9:53) Lesson Three: My Business Comes After My Family and Loved Ones—Always
• (11:25) Lesson Four: Things Are Going to Take Longer than You Expect or Want
• (13:48) Lesson Five: Find Something Outside of Your Business That Lights You Up
• (16:05) Lesson Six: Action is Always Going to Win

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club

Do you have clear professional boundaries for your business? In this episode, we discuss what boundaries you should have as an editor, why they’re important, and how you can enforce them using contracts.

Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. I’m not a lawyer, but I am related to one, and we created an editing contract template that you can use with your editing clients. Find it here.

This episode originally aired on 9/25/24 as episode 37.

• (1:48) Do Boundaries Destroy Creativity?
• (3:28) The Basic Definition of a Contract
• (4:58) Adding Boundaries to Your Contracts Through Scope of Work
• (6:52) Setting Boundaries With Payment Arrangements
• (8:36) Creating Boundaries Around Deadlines
• (10:42) Boundaries Around Communication
• (13:15) Setting Boundaries Around Generative AI
• (15:31) Defining Boundaries Around Acknowledgments
• (18:31) How to Handle Contract Termination
• (19:52) Introducing My Editing Contract Template

• Episode 7: Why You Need Boundaries in Your Business
• Editorial Freelancers Association
• Editors Canada
• The Paper It’s Written On book
• My new Editing Contract Template

• Book a free 15-minute call
• Join the Freelance Editors Club
• Book a 1:1 coaching session

As today’s fast-paced world races toward AI and hyperproductivity, I find myself wanting to slow down and take a different route. However, every once in a while, I start to second-guess myself. Am I making things harder by not maximizing every minute of my life? Should I be doing things faster?

This is a topic that’s been on my mind for a while, so I wanted to open up an honest discussion about it in this episode of The Modern Editor. Specifically, let’s talk about when friction can be good for our lives and editing businesses.

• (1:42) Does Convenience Drain Meaning Out of Life?
• (4:30) How Friction Adds Humanity to Our Editing Businesses
• (6:27) Experience Can’t Be Rushed
• (7:22) You Don’t Need to Take Friction Out of Your Business
• (8:10) When Friction is Unhelpful
• (10:10) There Are No Shortcuts to Experience
• (12:20) Find Your Community in the Freelance Editors Club

• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
• Tiny Habits™ Method

• Grab the Editing Contract Template
• Join the Freelance Editors Club