Working at a job, vocation or career is one of the critical pieces for most of our lives. And as we see the different employees rushing to their jobs every morning, one question fit through our minds : What do they do all day ?
As a freelancer you are always free to choose your working schedule and the type of work based on what interests and benefits you best, some people like to do part time freelancing while others prefer full time freelancing. But as a student full time is only possible during holidays.
If you are considering taking the path of self-employment and you are wondering what it is like to be a freelancer, like what a day in the life a freelancer looks like, this article is for you.
Interact with others to get new clients
A day in the life of a freelancer involves the obvious tasks of sitting work hours, dealing with projects and keeping track of time spent on these, but there are other tasks that don’t appear on a job description, like networking.
It is one of the best ways to promote yourself as a freelancer.
But it is more than just landing the next client. In the long run, it gives you a huge advantage as a professional.
Freelancers have a daily routine !
Surprise ! Not
Freelancing is an attractive option when you are willing to have a bit of control and freedom in your professional life. BUT, it is very important to create a daily routine as a freelancer because once you take a job; you have to accomplish it.
While some people prefer to wake up early, others like to work at night, and others drift between both, it depends on the week’s schedule and the levels of productivity in order not to waste so much time, it’s like a curve and it’s not the same for all people, so the best thing is to find your highest productivity point and set your schedule according to it.
Add “ night-before planning” to your life, and discover how planning your day makes it more productive. But always remember that a schedule is a plan not a promise. And get rid of distractions in order to focus on your tasks.
Here is a snapshot in an average day of a night owl freelancer:
Taking care of your mental and physical health by exercising is really beneficial ! Never isolate yourself, and remember that your life is not just about your computer
Getting yourself motivated can be hard
Keeping yourself motivated is really challenging, it’s all about starting because getting yourself started is the key, some people have hacks to keep themselves motivated, having a good morning,
socializing with the right people can give one the right amount
of energy to start working, working for so long hours isn’t good either, the brain needs to relax,
you can check all the work you did in the project to motivate yourself to keep going and keep track of how much work you achieved.
Maybe forcing yourself to work isn’t the greatest idea when you are not feeling like it, money and building the career you always dreamt of can motivate you to keep going
Being uber productive. Why not ?
No matter what you’re working on, you need to make certain strategic choices if you want to maximize your productivity
- Start working right away, avoid procrastination
- Be as organized as possible from the beginning of the project
- Choose a good time and place for you to work because the good side of freelancing is that there is no place restrictions, you can work in the park with the birds which can boost your energy or in your room wherever you feel like working
- Respect deadlines
- Communicate with your client and team -if you are working in a team-
- Accept the projects that you really can do
Here is a list of go-to tech tools for productivity used by some algerian freelancers :
Trello : the ideal tool for monitoring large work projects; allowing you to organize your assignments alone or as a team according to your deadlines and priorities.
Github : if you are from the software engineering industry then you’ve certainly heard of github, a repository hosting service for git which makes it easy to contribute, share your code with other developers and engage with them.
Roam research : an interesting and easy tool to document what you learn and resume the articles that you read. It is really helpful since simply saving the link of the source in order to get back to it later won’t push you to do so.
Notion : a tool to define your tasks and take notes during clients meetings
Who is the best freelancer ?
We often assume that there is one type of person that makes the best freelancer. WRONG ! _ Click to tweet
After all, there are various freelancers out there. And every one of them is doing his best to shine between the others using his skills.
Below, we break down the soft skills that every freelancer need :
- Communication is an important skill ( you can’t disappear on your client and only contact him once you’re done ).
- English if you are working with a foreigner.
- Negotiation is a must have.
- Determination to finish your work and never give up.
- Time management.
- Ability to handle stressful situations.
- Organization.
Encountering tons of ups and downs on a daily basis
Imagine you’re working on a project and then it gets cancelled. Hmm what about not getting paid after months of hard work. Have you thought about the possibility of encountering a last minute bug just before delivering.
Well freelancers face a lot of challenges in their day-to-day lives. Understanding clients needs and adjusting yourself to the changes they ask usually during work may seem really difficult. So you need to learn the mindset of delivering the final product. Because after all what matters the most is delivering.
“One of the hardest things in the freelancing industry is getting feedback , sometimes you’ll feel lost and don’t know if you are doing the right thing or not which makes you insecure.” _ Click to tweet
You need to be honest with your client and clearly communicate your level of expertise to him but also try to do your best.
But while freelancing has its pitfalls (many of which can be terrifying to dive in this domain), it definitely has its perks.
The biggest perk is FLEXIBILITY and of course being your own boss which sounds like a dream to those in permanent employment.
Another perk is making money and guaranteeing financial independence.
A task takes always more than you think it will
Every job has its fair disadvantages and difficulties. When it comes to freelance, a freelancer might find himself in the obligation to learn a new technology that he is not supposed to learn like an outdated one. Dealing with no professional clients also remains one of the least favourite things to encounter. It is also difficult to manage your time especially while studying since there is so much pressure on the task you sometimes do. And staying motivated for example isn’t always easy when you’re alone and have no one te report you to your boss.
Lastly we’d like to thank Younes Chellaf, Nassim Khodja and Noria Makhloufi for taking the time to share with us insightful information about their daily lives as freelancers.
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