The benefits of freelancing are many: freedom, flexibility, and making prank calls in the comfort of your home at any hour, to name a few. In the last month or so since I’ve made my foray into freelancing full-time, I’ve found there are actually a few things I sort of miss about the 9-5. Maybe you feel the same way too? Here are three that come to mind, and how you can re-establish them on your own.
Structure
The fact that you’re left to your own devices when you first start out freelancing can be a bit of an adjustment. When you work a 9-5, your schedule may largely be dictated by your boss or company infrastructure. But you don’t need to be babied, right? I imagine it’s the same quasi-wonderful problem people who enter retirement face—trying to make the most of the oodles of unstructured “free time,”at your disposal. Well, the thing is you have deadlines to meet, and depending on how well you manage your workload, you may be able to manage carving out a generous amount of free time for yourself.
I am personally struggling with this. A challenge I’ve facing is that since I’ve freelanced on the side for a good year or so, I am used to working on nights and weekends. So I fall into the habit of working through the weekends, which I don’t really need to do anymore.
I’ve been experimenting with working for 4 hours in the morning, then taking a 2 hour lunch/exercise break, followed by 4 hours in the afternoon. If you’re someone who prefers to work 4—6 hours every day instead of 8-hour days during the week, this might work for you. You can also structuring 4 hours of your day, then gradually level up to 5 hours, then 6, and so forth. The joy is that you are the master of your schedule, and you can fashion it any way you like.
Community
Yes, it’s true. Depending on your personality, you may at times miss water cooler talk, and even that one guy in the office with the funny voice and (unless that guy was you). And you might feel nostalgic about the camaraderie of having office mates and being part of a team. But guess what? You are now part of a global network of freelancers.
You can schedule coworking meetups with fellow freelance buddies. I’ve been meeting up with friends at different coffee shops a couple times of week. As long as you stay on course and don’t turn it into social hour, it’s a great way to catch up and get some work done.
Check out a monthly networking event through Freelancers Union or Freelance Friday. Meetup is also a place worth checking out for more meetups in a particular field. These mixers are 100% free. Put on your friendliest smile, your favorite hip go-getter ensemble, and a short stack of business cards. Although business cards may seem outdated to some, I try to keep mine on hand at mixers. You really don’t need too many, and if you’re itching for ones with an eye-catching design and are top quality, check out MOO.com Although biz cards purchased through MOO.com can be a little pricier than standard ones, you can sometimes score a deal. MOO offers a lot of different options, which will definitely please your inner design snob.
Stability
And by stability I mean the illusion of stability. When it comes to a full-time job, I hate to get all doomsday on you, but you really never know when a round of layoffs could occur or a company goes under. I think the best way to create your own sense of stability is to squirrel away money for your emergency fund. I highly recommend at least 6 months if you can swing it, and up to 12 if you wanna be a rock star. Start out with a baby savings fund, then level up to a mama savings fund. Stretch goals might include an HSA to help with your healthcare costs, and an extra money cushion (perhaps a separate emergency fund account?) so you can “afford” to take sick days and days off.
It’s no easy feat to freelance, and many people who have gone through the ropes say the first few months of self-employment are the hardest. So fear not, little freelance soldier, and tough it out. I place my bets that it will get easier as you go along.
