20 Tips on How to Actually Work From Home as a Freelancer Without Freaking Out!
HA-HA! So you’re freelance too? Welcome to the Thunderdome, where you battle yourself! I hope you have a good seatbelt. Let’s goooo! Advice from a control freak, common stress-prone, freak-out freelancer!
1. Get dressed and ready like you actually would if you left your house to interact with other humans. That means taking off the yoga pants, washing your face, and putting on a nice outfit that inspires you to work.
2. Get organized! Whether you prefer digital or analog get yourself and business in order. I prefer paper. It always feels good to cross off an item. Have a calendar, notebook for ideas, book for meetings, post-its, to-do lists and a journal to scream your stress and worries into.
3. Don’t overwhelm yourself with tasks. Concentrate on a few things to do a day. Separate your work to-do and personal to-do. Doing a few hours of work a day is better than freaking out and not getting anything done except, congrats you’ve stressed yourself out. No one says you have to be slaving away at your computer from 9-5. Concentrate on doing solid work for short stints. It allows for breaks to refresh your mind and allows new ideas to flow.
4. Don’t freak out.
5. Make yourself a schedule! Set yourself a time you need to start working and what days you do what. For me, Monday through Friday are always my days filled with emails, to-do lists, and sometimes boring work additionally, I do some creative work or brainstorming. I always save Saturday for a full creative do-whatever day. Sundays are always off. (Since I am freelance and sometimes I work Sundays, I always make sure I take Monday off or so on. When gig/shoot days come up it all changes! Be flexible).
6. Have a designated “work” area. It taps into your subconscious, letting yourself know, “Oh I am sitting here, I am in work mode”. Even if it means sitting in a different chair at the table, do it. And always sit there to work. Some even always make the same tea or light the same candle to get their brain in work mode.
7. So you’re talking to yourself or your animal friend again? Time to go outside. Actually do leave your house once in a while. Go take a walk, go to a coffee shop, go workout, do anything else!
8. Don’t freak out.
9. Call a friend. It can be hard to be in your own mind for a long time… alone. Possible dangerous. You start to doubt yourself, your worth, your business, and your ideas, how do you figure out your entire career and purpose for life today!?!… Oh fuck…
10. You’re emotions and thoughts WILL be a rollercoaster while you wait for the email response from that amazing client you desperately want to work with. You know the one you sent that crazy big estimate to and you’re worried you’ve gone too far this time. No turning back now. AHHHHH!
11. Don’t freak out.
12. Yoga and meditation are great ways to calm your nerves. Or screaming and punching a pillow sometimes seems more fit. Cardio seems to be a great way for me to relieve that horrible panic or the “impending doom” feeling of a freelancer. Aka, move your body to release that energy.
13. Find some good blogs or books to read to help inspire, motivate, and educate you. Some good blogs: Creative Live, BOOOOOOOM, Daniel Futerman, A Photo Editor, Denise DT, Feature Shoot, Creative Boom, and surprisingly Pinterest feels more inspirational and less harsh than Instagram. (maybe because their algorithm is the bomb! Who says the bomb anymore….)
Some good books: The Artist’s Way, Creative Calling, Girl Wash Your Face, Finding Your Own North Star, The Alchemist, You Are a Badass at Making Money, The War of Art, Starting Your Career as a Freelance Photographer, 12 Rules For Life, The Undiscovered Self, and so much more!!!
If you HATE reading, try podcasts! Such as Second Life, Tony Robbins Podcast, Chase Jarvis, Joe Rogan, Ted Talks Business and so much more.
14. Find other freelancers to hang out with. They can be people in your field or just other creatives. Bond together in the constant struggles, marketing, finding the next client, staying creative, and having fun. Go grab a drink together. Networking is great, and you’re not alone.
15. DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF/YOUR WORK TO OTHERS! This is the literal death sentence of a creative. Your work is completely different than everyone else’s. Even if you are in the same niche, your work will always be your work, their work will always be their work. So what if it’s been done before, it hasn’t been done by you yet?
16. Separate yourself (the one binge-watching Netflix in your pajamas) from your work/business (that creative, cool stuff you make). Don’t take things personally, it’s not you, it’s your work/business. Take it all as a critique to better your work/business.
17. Do the work! You’re not going to get a handout or freebie just because you put your work on Instagram. (Unless you just damn as hell got lucky, then take it and keep going). You need to not just create, you need to market yourself, brand yourself, and sell yourself. Don’t get overwhelmed! (#3)
18. Try something new creatively. Try painting, drawing, playing an instrument, cooking, singing, cross-stitching, making a video or anything. Pushing yourself to do something way out of your comfort zone sharpens your creativity, even if you’re not good at it. But surprise! When you start something new, you’re usually shit at it anyway. Practice makes perfect (I wonder why it’s such a popular quote).
19. DON’T FREAK OUT! It will all be okay and everything will work out. Keep on doing the work. Keep on doing what you love. Slow and steady win the race. It will come at the right time for all of us. It won’t happen overnight, and if it does, hell yeah!
20. Finally, and most importantly, have fun, stay inspired, and celebrate your hard work! STAY ON TARGET! All in all, I wouldn’t change it for a thing. There is nothing better than working for yourself and getting paid to do what you LOVE! I hope these tips help a little or at least make you laugh.