The freelancing life seems to be tempting! You don’t need to dress up for work, you don’t need to get stuck in traffic and stress over your log-in time, no boss will be standing over your shoulder- what more can you ask for?
But the reality is somewhat different. The life of a freelancer is not always easy. It has got its share of bumps in the road. While everyone talks about finding clients and irregular incomes, there are other significant problems too.
Challenge One – Managing Your Time
Time management is one of the major challenges most freelancers face. As the line between work and personal life gets blurred, your work-life balance goes out of the league. Sure, flexible working hours were the biggest motivator behind your shift to freelancing. But, as your work gets hampered because of the ‘flexibility, things are not fun anymore!
The Fix-
To-do lists work when you try to make them work. Make sure to use a single platform to keep track of all your tasks, projects, deadlines, and work status. For example, you can use tools like Trello, Asana, or Google Calendar to store everything you need. Update your calendar every day, keep track of the time you spend on each, and set per day goals to finish your tasks. You can set timers like Promodoro to track every minute of your work.
Challenge Two – You Are The Jack Of All Trades
Running a one-person business is one of the biggest challenges of freelancing. Did you think it through? As a self-employed person, you don’t work only on assignments you leave for the day. You have to juggle other business activities like marketing your services, chasing clients for payments, setting a budget, and managing your finances – the list is long. You have to make your coffee while taking breaks!
The Fix –
It’s overwhelming, TRUE! You can start by organizing your daily schedule. Create a to-do list including every minute of your activities. Set a fixed number of working hours and you MUST complete your work during the end hour. Your cell phone and social media will try their best to distract you, but if you work, you will earn. There’s no paid leave when you are freelancing.
Challenge Three – Working From Home Can Get Lonely
While it gives you the flexibility and freedom to work for yourself, it can also be very lonely. Humans are social beings (both introverts and extroverts). You might feel stuck when you are not around your teammates to have a cup of coffee or work together on a project. Besides, feeling isolated, you might get bored with certain projects. It often gets tough to motivate yourself to get things done.
The Fix –
Take up projects you enjoy and you will feel motivated to work on things you enjoy a lot. For example, if you love traveling and photography, you might not enjoy writing an article on the fuel pump. Though it might not be possible at the initial stage of your freelancing career, be selective about the projects you take on.
Go to a co-working space, a bookstore, or a coffee shop and work from there. In those places, you might get the ambiance of an office where all the like-minded people are working. But you can arrive and leave anytime without a fixed nine-to-five schedule.
Conclusion-
So, are you up for the challenges of freelancing? Remember, there is no shortcut to success and the challenges might tempt you to give up before you taste the success. But every day is a new beginning and productivity is all about practicing hard. It might be critical to set realistic goals, market your services, and manage your time. But once you get a hold of your routine, you will savor the flexibility and freedom.
