People are tired of not having control of their careers. Freelancing let’s them try entrepreneurship without total commitment. ~ Career Coach Meg Montford (Twitter #tchat)
This guest post is contributed by Alisa Gilbert.
As pointed out on this blog and others, freelancing is increasingly becoming the employment way of the future. Since more and more work in various industries is being completed online, the prospect of working remotely from anywhere the comfort of your home or your favorite cafe is a viable and tempting option for a greater diversity of people.
If you’ve taken the leap from a full-time office job to a freelancing career, but you aren’t quite sure what to expect in terms of your daily routine, here are a few tips all of which were gleaned from my personal freelancing experiences.
1. Keep some semblance of routine.
The most exciting part of launching into a freelancing career is that you become your own boss. You can decide when, where, and how you want to work. While this new reality is certainly a liberating one, you still want to keep some sort of routine. Many freelancers get so excited about their enhanced flexibility that they wake up and go to sleep at odd hours, wear their pajamas all day, and say yes to every friend who wants to go for lunch or coffee.
The fact of the matter is that you have to set yourself rules if you want to maintain productivity and a steady cash flow. Of course, it doesn’t have to be as rigid as your old office job, but do remember to sleep regularly and write a schedule. Even if you don’t have the same schedule every day, having some parameters will keep you focused and disciplined.
2. Work around others at least half of your work week.
Whenever I’ve gotten together with freelancers, the biggest complaint that many have is feelings of loneliness. Even if your former office mates irritated you, you’d be surprised by how instrumental human interaction is in keeping you healthy and happy.
Instead of working from home the entire time, be sure to get out of the house and work in different locations where you can be among people, whether it’s at a cafe, a co-working space, or the local library.
3. Saving money is much more important as a freelancer.
The biggest adjustment in transitioning from full-time to freelance for me personally was the loss of a steady paycheck. Even though during the course of a year, you can earn just as much, potentially even more, than your old office job, the income comes in spurts and streams. You have to anticipate these periods of little available work by saving money when you’re getting lots of assignments. This is the single most important thing to keep in mind as a freelancer.
Don’t find yourself in an unfortunate position in which you can’t pay bills! Be sure to save aggressively.
4. Enjoy the perks!
What surprises me about many freelancers is that they take everything so seriously such that they forget why they jumped in to freelancing in the first place. It reminds of a time in grade school when, after months of having seating arrangements, our teacher told us students we could sit where we pleased. Almost everyone chose their original seat. It’s the same with some freelancers they’ve become so conditioned to working in an office that they don’t know how to enjoy their newfound freedom.
If you’re feeling stressed, take a few days off. If you want a change of scenery, book a cheap trip to other side of the country and work from there. Enjoy playing with your kids more. Take the dog for a walk during the middle of the day. Take advantage of the positive things that go with freelancing.
As long as you have the self-discipline to put you back on track, there’s no harm in enjoying the flexible life of the freelancer.
About the Guest Author:
This guest post is contributed by Alisa Gilbert. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alisagilbert599[at]gmail.com.