4 Ways to Keep Your Sanity as a Freelancer
There are plenty of opportunities for freelancers to build a successful business for themselves and to make a lot of money, but there are also just as many opportunities for you to lose your mind, if you allow for laziness, boredom, loneliness or procrastination to become your friends as you make your way towards success.
Here are four ways in which freelancers can keep their sanity and be productive and engaged whether they are busy or going through quiet periods.
Fully Commit to The Cause
If you are going to network, find clients and complete your work in a half-hearted manner, you may as well start looking for full-time jobs, as you are not going to fully commit to the freelance cause. Without a plan of action and a daily strategy to be fully engaged in your efforts for 8 hours a day (or more), you are soon going to become lackadaisical and bored, and that’s when times get tough.
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Make the Most of Quiet Periods
You are extremely lucky if you are 100 miles per hour at all times as a freelancer. There are inevitably going to be times when the clients aren’t calling (or emailing) and you are sitting around twiddling your thumbs. During these quiet periods, it pays to keep busy, whether that’s in the home (those dishes aren’t going to wash themselves) or by sourcing clients, reading books/articles relating to your industry and signing up for events/workshops/talks that could be helpful to you and your business. It will serve you well and prevent you from pacing around the living room waiting for work.
Remember Your Family and Friends? Make Time for Them
Loneliness is one of the key reasons that many freelancers give up and head back to work, and it’s easy to understand why. It can be easy to lose touch with people when you are hunting down the next paying client, and your working week is likely to be all over the place. It’s important to make time for your friends and family, whether it’s just to meet up for a coffee and a chat or to head out for a few hours to do something fun, like solving a mystery at the Escape Room Dallas is popular for head to the cinema to see the latest big budget popcorn flick. You’ll feel a lot better when you head back to your home office.
Create an Awesome Home Office
One way to stave off the boredom of being on your own all the time while you work is to create an awesome home office – complete with funky plants, accessories and a desk that you would be happy to sit at all day (not to mention a comfy seat to sit on). There are plenty of places to find these furnishings and fittings, from online shopping, search for second-hand items online in places like eBay and Facebook, head to Ikea for a break and more. You can create the perfect workspace for a limited budget, or splash out if those clients are paying you well. Either way, a superb working area will be yours to savor and enjoy, which is a good place to be if you’re going to be spending so much time there.